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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. net — after costs
  4. spring — of water
  5. spring — the season
  6. drill — army training
  7. cap — of ice
  8. net — for catching
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. net — in sport
  11. row — to paddle
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. craft — a skill
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. spring — a coil
  16. drill — the tool
  17. cap — a hat
  18. craft — boats
  19. row — a line
  20. wound — an injury
  21. drill — a practice
  22. cap — a lid
  23. wound — an injury
  24. stock — shares

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