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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 116 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: spring · kid · bat · march · game · club · craft · stock

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. club — for dancing
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. craft — a skill
  5. craft — boats
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. club — a group
  8. game — wild animals
  9. stock — goods
  10. march — the month
  11. bat — the animal
  12. kid — child
  13. game — a match
  14. kid — to tease
  15. march — the month
  16. march — music
  17. club — for golf
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. stock — shares
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. spring — a coil
  23. spring — the season
  24. game — a kind of play

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