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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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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: toast · club · spring · craft · row · mark · tear · straw

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. craft — a skill
  7. craft — boats
  8. row — to paddle
  9. spring — of water
  10. mark — a trace
  11. club — for golf
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. tear — to rip
  14. toast — bread
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. mark — a grade
  17. row — a line
  18. club — for dancing
  19. club — a group
  20. spring — a coil
  21. spring — the season
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. tear — from crying

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