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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. key — for a lock
  3. clip — a video
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. race — humankind
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. clip — for paper
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. stock — goods
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. stock — shares
  13. key — in music
  14. race — the arms race
  15. branch — a division
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. key — the most important part
  20. race — a contest
  21. snap — to click
  22. clip — to cut
  23. craft — boats
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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