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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. stock — goods
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. ground — crushed
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. wound — an injury
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. stock — shares
  9. file — a line of people
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. craft — boats
  14. file — a document
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. craft — a skill
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. kick — in football
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wax — to grow
  21. ground — the earth
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. ground — a position
  24. file — a 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