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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. stock — shares
  4. swing — music
  5. chest — of your body
  6. ground — a position
  7. ground — the earth
  8. stock — goods
  9. rest — a break
  10. rest — what's left
  11. ground — crushed
  12. rest — what's left
  13. chest — of your body
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. swing — in golf
  16. chest — a box
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. craft — boats
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. swing — to play on
  23. kick — in football
  24. mine — for digging

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