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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: craft · cell · coach · field · stock · chest

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. craft — a skill
  4. field — farmland
  5. chest — of your body
  6. stock — goods
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. cell — a phone
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — for sport
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. stock — shares
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — a box
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. cell — in biology

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