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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: staff · date · craft · lean · cold · fork · clip · coach

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  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. staff — a stick
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. cold — not warm
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. lean — thin
  10. date — the fruit
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. clip — to cut
  14. staff — employees
  15. clip — for paper
  16. craft — boats
  17. clip — a video
  18. fork — in a road
  19. craft — a skill
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. lean — to bend
  22. staff — employees
  23. date — on the calendar
  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