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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. craft — a skill
  6. cold — an illness
  7. track — to keep track
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. cold — not warm
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. track — a song
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. spell — letters
  16. spell — magic
  17. spell — a short time
  18. wax — to grow
  19. craft — boats
  20. stock — shares
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. track — a path
  23. kick — in football
  24. stock — goods

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