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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. stock — shares
  4. game — a match
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. craft — boats
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. craft — a skill
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. mine — for digging
  13. ball — a great time
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. ball — a dance
  16. game — wild animals
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — for baseball

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