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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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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: bear · wax · stock · craft · degree · clip

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wax — to grow
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. clip — to cut
  6. stock — goods
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. clip — for paper
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. craft — boats
  12. craft — a skill
  13. degree — temperature
  14. bear — the animal
  15. clip — a video
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. degree — an amount
  18. stock — shares

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