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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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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 · bear · bat · wind · degree · wave · game · stock

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. degree — temperature
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. bat — the animal
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. stock — goods
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. bear — the animal
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. degree — from a university
  13. wind — moving air
  14. craft — a skill
  15. bear — the animal
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. game — a match
  18. degree — an amount
  19. stock — shares
  20. craft — boats
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. game — wild animals
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. wind — to turn a key

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