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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. tear — to rip
  3. tear — from crying
  4. stock — shares
  5. field — for sport
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. present — there
  8. craft — boats
  9. stock — goods
  10. press — to push
  11. kid — child
  12. shower — rain
  13. tear — from crying
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. press — a publisher
  16. press — newspapers
  17. present — the time now
  18. field — farmland
  19. kid — to tease
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. shower — to wash
  23. field — a subject
  24. present — a gift

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