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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: craft · spring · cold · pit · content · arm · spell · prune

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  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. cold — the Cold War
  2. craft — boats
  3. spell — magic
  4. spring — a coil
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. pit — in a race
  8. content — happy
  9. spell — letters
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. pit — a hole
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. spring — of water
  17. content — the amount
  18. prune — to trim
  19. craft — a skill
  20. spell — a short time
  21. prune — to trim
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. spring — the season
  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