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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 · squash · fork · clip · row · leaves · cold · hide

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. craft — boats
  3. row — a line
  4. cold — not warm
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. clip — a video
  14. squash — the sport
  15. clip — for paper
  16. craft — a skill
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. fork — in a road
  19. squash — to crush
  20. row — to paddle
  21. clip — to cut
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. leaves — to go away

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