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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 116 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: craft · swing · chip · drill · cold · content · bear · kick

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. swing — in golf
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. content — happy
  5. swing — to play on
  6. content — the amount
  7. craft — a skill
  8. drill — army training
  9. kick — in football
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. chip — for betting
  12. drill — a practice
  13. bear — the animal
  14. cold — not warm
  15. swing — music
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. drill — the tool
  20. bear — the animal
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. craft — boats
  23. chip — to eat
  24. craft — a handicraft

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