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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: safe · club · craft · wind · rest · content · cold · pound

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. wind — moving air
  3. craft — boats
  4. club — a group
  5. content — the amount
  6. club — for dancing
  7. cold — an illness
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. pound — a weight
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. craft — a skill
  13. safe — a strongbox
  14. rest — what's left
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. club — for golf
  20. rest — a break
  21. rest — what's left
  22. cold — not warm
  23. wind — moving air
  24. safe — out of danger

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