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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
468
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: content · ground · branch · field · shower · craft · stock · mouse

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. stock — shares
  5. ground — a position
  6. field — farmland
  7. ground — the earth
  8. content — the amount
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. branch — a division
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. stock — goods
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. ground — crushed
  17. content — happy
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. craft — a skill
  20. shower — rain
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — a subject
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — to wash

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