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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: saw · craft · board · cold · mate · spring · tear · squash

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  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 — an illness
  2. tear — to rip
  3. craft — boats
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. cold — not warm
  7. tear — from crying
  8. squash — the sport
  9. spring — the season
  10. craft — a skill
  11. board — to get on
  12. tear — from crying
  13. board — a committee
  14. squash — to crush
  15. mate — a friend
  16. saw — the tool
  17. mate — to breed
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. mate — a partner
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. saw — the tool
  22. spring — a coil
  23. spring — of water
  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