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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: kid · wound · game · rest · cold · craft · dip · spring

  1. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. cold — an illness
  4. craft — a skill
  5. dip — to sink
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. spring — the season
  8. game — wild animals
  9. cold — not warm
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rest — a break
  12. game — a match
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wound — an injury
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. kid — to tease
  19. rest — what's left
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wound — an injury
  22. spring — of water
  23. craft — boats
  24. kid — child

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