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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. craft — a skill
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. stock — shares
  8. file — a tool
  9. stock — goods
  10. craft — boats
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. wound — an injury
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. game — a match
  16. pass — a permit
  17. file — a line of people
  18. mine — for digging
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. file — a document
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. chair — a leader
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. wound — an injury

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