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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: straw · spell · date · wind · craft · cold · lie · hide

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. spell — magic
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. craft — a skill
  8. lie — to recline
  9. wind — moving air
  10. cold — an illness
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. spell — letters
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. date — the fruit
  18. spell — a short time
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. craft — boats
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. hide — animal skin

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