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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: craft · temple · spring · straw · bear · content · cold · cue

  1. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. spring — of water
  3. cold — not warm
  4. spring — the season
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. cue — a hint
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. cold — an illness
  9. spring — a coil
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. craft — a skill
  12. cue — a signal
  13. craft — boats
  14. bear — the animal
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. bear — the animal
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. content — happy
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. content — the amount
  24. temple — a place of worship

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