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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 · arm · patient · wave · cold · calf · spring · rock

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. rock — music
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. cold — not warm
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. craft — a skill
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. spring — a coil
  10. cold — an illness
  11. rock — a stone
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. craft — boats
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — the season
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. wave — of the sea

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