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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. craft — boats
  4. root — of a plant
  5. file — a line of people
  6. root — of a word
  7. craft — a skill
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. file — a document
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. hand — in cards
  12. mine — for digging
  13. file — a tool
  14. root — the cause
  15. stock — shares
  16. stock — goods
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — help

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