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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: cold · wind · bass · craft · rest · land · object · arm

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cold — an illness
  5. craft — a skill
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. object — an aim
  8. land — to come down
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. rest — what's left
  11. land — ground
  12. object — a thing
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. rest — what's left
  15. land — a country
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. object — to protest
  18. craft — boats
  19. bass — the fish
  20. cold — not warm
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. bass — low music
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. cold — the Cold War

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