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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: field · branch · straw · shower · stock · mine · saw · craft

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. field — farmland
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. stock — goods
  5. craft — boats
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. branch — a division
  9. stock — shares
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. saw — the tool
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. field — for sport
  18. shower — rain
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. shower — to wash
  21. field — a subject
  22. mine — for digging
  23. craft — a skill
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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