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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: file · craft · bay · cue · mine · wind · kid · date

  1. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. mine — for digging
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. kid — child
  6. cue — a signal
  7. kid — to tease
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. cue — a hint
  10. wind — moving air
  11. date — the fruit
  12. craft — boats
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. file — a line of people
  19. file — a document
  20. file — a tool
  21. wind — moving air
  22. cue — for pool
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. date — on the calendar

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