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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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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: deal · snap · bore · degree · stock · chair · craft · file

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bore — to drill
  3. file — a tool
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. deal — to handle
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. craft — boats
  8. bore — to tire
  9. stock — goods
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. chair — a leader
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. degree — an amount
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. craft — a skill
  18. file — a document
  19. file — a line of people
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. snap — to click
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. degree — temperature
  24. stock — shares

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