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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. craft — boats
  3. saw — the tool
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — for paper
  7. cold — not warm
  8. clip — to cut
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. cold — an illness
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. saw — the tool
  14. club — for dancing
  15. stock — goods
  16. stock — shares
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. hand — help
  20. club — for golf
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. craft — a skill
  23. hand — in cards
  24. club — a group

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