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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: mate · rest · cold · wound · bass · craft · content · temple

  1. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. bass — the fish
  4. mate — a friend
  5. mate — a partner
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. wound — an injury
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. bass — low music
  12. craft — boats
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. rest — what's left
  15. content — happy
  16. rest — what's left
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wound — an injury
  19. cold — an illness
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. mate — to breed
  23. rest — a break
  24. content — the amount

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