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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 124 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. chest — of your body
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. stock — goods
  6. craft — a skill
  7. chest — a box
  8. craft — boats
  9. swing — to play on
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. chest — of your body
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. swing — music
  15. stock — shares
  16. pitch — completely
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. club — for dancing
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. club — for golf
  21. swing — in golf
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. club — a group
  24. pitch — a sports field

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