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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. file — a document
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — for paper
  6. stock — goods
  7. stock — shares
  8. stand — to bear
  9. track — a path
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. bass — low music
  12. track — to keep track
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. court — for sport
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. craft — a skill
  17. court — of law
  18. track — a song
  19. file — a line of people
  20. file — a tool
  21. bass — the fish
  22. clip — a video
  23. court — of a king
  24. stand — on your feet

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