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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. spring — of water
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. craft — a skill
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. plane — a tool
  8. spring — a coil
  9. spring — the season
  10. stock — goods
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. game — a match
  13. craft — boats
  14. branch — a division
  15. row — to paddle
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. stock — shares
  19. row — a line
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. game — wild animals
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — the tool

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