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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: clip · craft · spell · stock · stand · pitch · mine · face

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. spell — letters
  3. spell — a short time
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. face — to confront
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. face — to point toward
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. craft — boats
  11. stock — shares
  12. stand — to bear
  13. pitch — completely
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — to cut
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. face — part of the head
  19. spell — magic
  20. stock — goods
  21. craft — a skill
  22. mine — for digging
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. mine — an explosive

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