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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. craft — boats
  3. plane — a tool
  4. tear — to rip
  5. ground — a position
  6. tear — from crying
  7. pit — a hole
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. stock — goods
  10. pit — in a race
  11. field — a subject
  12. tear — from crying
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. craft — a skill
  15. ground — crushed
  16. field — farmland
  17. bat — the animal
  18. field — for sport
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. ground — the earth
  22. stock — shares
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. craft — a handicraft

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