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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. craft — boats
  3. content — happy
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. file — a line of people
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. file — a tool
  8. net — in sport
  9. net — after costs
  10. bass — the fish
  11. ball — a great time
  12. stock — goods
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. stock — shares
  15. net — for catching
  16. bass — low music
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. ball — a dance
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. sharp — clever
  22. craft — a skill
  23. file — a document
  24. bass — the instrument

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