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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: spell · craft · wind · cold · plane · coach · stem · fork

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. craft — a skill
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. plane — a tool
  14. craft — boats
  15. spell — a short time
  16. spell — letters
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. stem — to come from
  21. cold — not warm
  22. spell — magic
  23. fork — in a road
  24. cold — an illness

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