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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: mine · fan · stock · tear · race · arm · craft · wound

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  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. fan — a supporter
  2. craft — boats
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. race — the arms race
  8. wound — an injury
  9. tear — from crying
  10. race — humankind
  11. wound — an injury
  12. race — a contest
  13. tear — to rip
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. mine — for digging
  17. tear — from crying
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. craft — a skill
  21. stock — shares
  22. stock — goods
  23. arm — part of the body
  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