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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. kid — child
  3. craft — boats
  4. current — electric
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. current — of water
  8. cell — in biology
  9. kid — to tease
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. current — happening now
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. craft — a skill
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. game — wild animals
  19. mine — for digging
  20. game — a match
  21. stock — shares
  22. cell — a phone
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. cell — in a prison

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