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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 120 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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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: mate · craft · wind · chair · spell · board · cold · kid

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. spell — magic
  3. wind — moving air
  4. kid — to tease
  5. spell — letters
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. craft — boats
  11. mate — to breed
  12. craft — a skill
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. mate — a partner
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. kid — child
  18. board — a committee
  19. spell — a short time
  20. chair — a leader
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. board — to get on
  23. mate — a friend
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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