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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spring · bark · mine · cold · straw · craft · deal · fine

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. bark — to shout
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. mine — for digging
  7. craft — boats
  8. cold — an illness
  9. fine — all right
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — of water
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. fine — high quality
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. spring — a coil
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. craft — a skill
  22. deal — to handle
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. bark — of a tree

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