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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 120 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: craft · cold · last · swing · cap · patient

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. craft — a skill
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. cold — not warm
  5. craft — boats
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — an illness
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. swing — to play on
  11. swing — in golf
  12. swing — music
  13. cap — a lid
  14. last — finally
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. last — to go on
  17. cap — a hat
  18. cap — of ice

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