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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: bat · craft · cold · wind · rule · fine

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bat — the animal
  4. rule — a law
  5. fine — all right
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. wind — moving air
  9. cold — an illness
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. rule — government
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. craft — a skill
  15. craft — boats
  16. fine — high quality
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. rule — to rule out

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