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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 120 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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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: cold · chair · craft · nail · bulb · cell · wound · fall

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. chair — a leader
  3. fall — to drop
  4. fall — the season
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bulb — for light
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. fall — to drop
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. craft — a skill
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bulb — for light
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. craft — boats

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