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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: tear · last · row · date · craft · cell

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  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. last — finally
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. last — final
  4. cell — a phone
  5. tear — from crying
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. row — a line
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. date — the fruit
  11. tear — to rip
  12. row — to paddle
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. last — to go on
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. tear — from crying
  17. craft — boats
  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