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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. cap — a lid
  4. craft — boats
  5. bank — of a river
  6. cap — a hat
  7. stock — goods
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. hand — in cards
  10. cap — of ice
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. craft — a skill
  13. bank — for money
  14. squash — to crush
  15. hand — help
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bank — for money
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. squash — the sport
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. stock — shares
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. clip — a video

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