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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. wind — moving air
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. snap — to click
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. saw — the tool
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. craft — a skill
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. race — the arms race
  15. race — a contest
  16. race — humankind
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. stock — shares
  20. craft — boats
  21. saw — the tool
  22. wind — moving air
  23. stock — goods
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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