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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: land · wind · swing · craft · coach · wound · sharp · stock

  1. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. land — a country
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. land — ground
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. craft — boats
  13. wind — moving air
  14. stock — shares
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. swing — to play on
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. swing — music
  21. land — to come down
  22. stock — goods
  23. sharp — clever
  24. craft — a skill

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