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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: craft · bat · file · cold · hide · stock · bore · club

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. craft — boats
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. club — for golf
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. bore — to drill
  8. bat — the animal
  9. club — for dancing
  10. bore — to tire
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a document
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. club — a group
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. stock — shares
  21. file — a line of people
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. craft — a skill
  24. bat — for baseball

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