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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: craft · wind · spring · face · cold · fork · date · clip

  1. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — in a road
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. face — to confront
  4. wind — moving air
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. face — to point toward
  10. date — the fruit
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. cold — an illness
  13. face — part of the head
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — for paper
  16. spring — the season
  17. cold — not warm
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. craft — boats
  20. clip — a video
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — a coil
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. craft — a skill

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