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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: hand · craft · last · can · cold · game · lash · pitch

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. game — wild animals
  8. cold — an illness
  9. can — to be able to
  10. pitch — completely
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. last — to go on
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. can — a tin
  18. hand — in cards
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. craft — a skill
  21. can — a tin
  22. last — finally
  23. last — final
  24. game — a match

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