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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: craft · straw · kid · wake · cold · race

  1. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. kid — to tease
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. kid — child
  9. cold — an illness
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. race — the arms race
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. cold — not warm
  14. race — a contest
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. craft — boats
  17. race — humankind
  18. craft — a skill

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com