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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 hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. stock — goods
  4. stock — shares
  5. swing — music
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. swing — in golf
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. tube — the underground
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. kid — to tease
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. kid — child
  14. craft — a skill
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. craft — boats
  17. cold — not warm
  18. swing — to play on
  19. tube — a container
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. cold — an illness
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. cold — the Cold War

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