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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: snap · cap · craft · last · stock · cold · straw · land

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. land — a country
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. cap — a lid
  5. snap — to click
  6. craft — a skill
  7. cold — an illness
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. last — finally
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. land — ground
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. last — to go on
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. stock — goods
  19. cap — of ice
  20. cold — not warm
  21. land — to come down
  22. stock — shares
  23. last — final
  24. craft — boats

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