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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: kid · craft · firm · tear · cold · scale

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  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. tear — from crying
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. craft — boats
  5. firm — a company
  6. tear — to rip
  7. firm — steady
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — child
  10. tear — from crying
  11. firm — decided
  12. scale — in music
  13. cold — an illness
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. scale — size or range
  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