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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. kid — to tease
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. court — of a king
  7. wind — moving air
  8. craft — a skill
  9. court — for sport
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. craft — boats
  14. court — of law
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. stock — goods
  17. kid — child
  18. wave — of the sea

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