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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: last · clip · lean · pop · cap · shower · foot · craft

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. craft — boats
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. pop — music
  5. last — to go on
  6. cap — a hat
  7. shower — to wash
  8. lean — thin
  9. clip — to cut
  10. foot — a measure
  11. cap — a lid
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. lean — to bend
  14. last — final
  15. shower — rain
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. pop — to visit
  19. cap — of ice
  20. clip — for paper
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. last — finally
  23. craft — a skill
  24. clip — a video

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