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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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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: fan · straw · rash · wound · spring · last · march · craft

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. last — finally
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. rash — a series
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. spring — a coil
  8. craft — boats
  9. spring — of water
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. craft — a skill
  12. last — final
  13. march — music
  14. rash — hasty
  15. march — the month
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. wound — an injury
  18. spring — the season
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. wound — an injury
  23. march — the month
  24. last — to go on

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