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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: bat · plane · row · cold · craft · pound · cabinet · stock

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. row — a line
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. pound — a weight
  5. stock — goods
  6. craft — a skill
  7. plane — a tool
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. cold — not warm
  18. stock — shares
  19. row — to paddle
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. pound — for dogs

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