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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 · lean · swing · bound · sharp · band · saw · cold

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. swing — to play on
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. lean — to bend
  5. sharp — clever
  6. lean — thin
  7. band — a music group
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. bound — tied together
  10. swing — in golf
  11. saw — the tool
  12. cold — an illness
  13. bound — certain
  14. saw — the tool
  15. craft — a skill
  16. swing — music
  17. band — a ring
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. craft — boats
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. bound — obliged
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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