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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 116 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: cold · shower · wound · craft · last · straw · season · swing

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. craft — a skill
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wound — an injury
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. cold — not warm
  7. wound — an injury
  8. last — final
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. shower — to wash
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. last — to go on
  13. season — of the year
  14. swing — to play on
  15. swing — music
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. shower — rain
  18. season — in sport
  19. swing — in golf
  20. last — finally
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. cold — an illness
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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