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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. game — a match
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. swing — to play on
  7. drill — a practice
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. game — wild animals
  10. craft — a skill
  11. swing — in golf
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. stock — goods
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. drill — army training
  18. stock — shares
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. drill — the tool
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. swing — music
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — in 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