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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: patient · stem · sharp · stock · file · craft · band · race

  1. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. stock — shares
  3. craft — a skill
  4. race — a contest
  5. stock — goods
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. race — the arms race
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. file — a tool
  10. band — a ring
  11. band — a music group
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. file — a line of people
  14. craft — boats
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. sharp — clever
  19. file — a document
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. race — humankind
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. stem — to come from

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