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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: key · bat · stock · craft · content · ground · shower · tube

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. ground — crushed
  3. key — in music
  4. stock — shares
  5. stock — goods
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. craft — a skill
  8. content — the amount
  9. shower — rain
  10. ground — a position
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. tube — the underground
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. content — happy
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. key — the most important part
  17. tube — a container
  18. craft — boats
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. shower — to wash
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. key — for a lock
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. ground — the earth

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