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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: cold · straw · deal · chest · craft · pop · bulb · lash

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. chest — of your body
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. deal — to handle
  9. pop — to visit
  10. chest — a box
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. bulb — for light
  13. bulb — for light
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pop — soda
  18. cold — an illness
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. chest — of your body
  21. craft — a skill
  22. pop — music
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. straw — dry grass

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