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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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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 · mug · craft · fork · fall · pound · game · snap

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. mug — a face
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. cold — an illness
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. fall — the season
  12. game — wild animals
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. mug — to rob
  15. pound — a weight
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. cold — not warm
  18. fall — to drop
  19. snap — to click
  20. fork — in a road
  21. fall — to drop
  22. game — a match
  23. craft — a skill
  24. mug — a cup

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