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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 · shower · land · kid · stock · bass · bore · content

  1. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. bass — low music
  3. bore — to drill
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. content — happy
  6. kid — to tease
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. craft — boats
  9. content — the amount
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. stock — shares
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. stock — goods
  15. bass — the fish
  16. shower — to wash
  17. land — a country
  18. land — to come down
  19. shower — rain
  20. bore — to tire
  21. kid — child
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. land — ground
  24. craft — a handicraft

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