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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 120 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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. craft — boats
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. stock — shares
  5. wind — moving air
  6. can — to be able to
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. can — a tin
  11. mate — a friend
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. mate — to breed
  15. squash — the sport
  16. hand — in cards
  17. squash — to crush
  18. hand — help
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. wind — moving air
  21. stock — goods
  22. craft — a skill
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. can — a tin

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