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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: craft · cold · fall · fork · spring · pit · race · present

  1. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. race — the arms race
  3. pit — in a race
  4. pit — a hole
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — the season
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. present — a gift
  9. fall — to drop
  10. race — humankind
  11. fork — in a road
  12. present — there
  13. spring — a coil
  14. spring — the season
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. craft — boats
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. race — a contest
  19. cold — an illness
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. cold — not warm
  22. spring — of water
  23. present — the time now
  24. fork — a garden tool

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