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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: land · saw · cold · squash · shower · craft · content · mark

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. shower — rain
  4. mark — a grade
  5. cold — an illness
  6. land — a country
  7. content — happy
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. saw — the tool
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. land — to come down
  13. squash — the sport
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. shower — to wash
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. craft — boats
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. squash — to crush
  20. cold — not warm
  21. saw — the tool
  22. content — the amount
  23. mark — a trace
  24. craft — a skill

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