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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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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: content · cold · wake · craft · season · hand · net · tube

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. cold — not warm
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. craft — boats
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. hand — help
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. season — of the year
  10. tube — a container
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wake — a trail
  13. content — happy
  14. cold — an illness
  15. net — in sport
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. content — the amount
  19. hand — in cards
  20. craft — a skill
  21. net — for catching
  22. net — after costs
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. tube — the underground

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