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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. row — a line
  3. stock — goods
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. press — a publisher
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. tear — to rip
  10. press — to push
  11. tear — from crying
  12. craft — boats
  13. stock — shares
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. row — to paddle
  21. press — newspapers
  22. prune — to trim
  23. tear — from crying
  24. trunk — of a car

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