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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. march — the month
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. march — the month
  7. craft — a skill
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. clip — to cut
  10. pop — music
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. clip — a video
  13. chest — of your body
  14. stock — goods
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. craft — boats
  18. pop — soda
  19. march — music
  20. clip — for paper
  21. chest — of your body
  22. pop — to visit
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. chest — a box

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