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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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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: tear · bark · cold · toast · craft · nail

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. craft — a skill
  3. craft — boats
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. tear — to rip
  8. toast — bread
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bark — to shout
  16. cold — not warm
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. nail — on a finger

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