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

  1. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bass — the fish
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. pit — a hole
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. cold — not warm
  12. craft — boats
  13. stock — shares
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. bass — low music
  16. stock — goods
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. pit — in a race

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