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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: cabinet · craft · cold · row · spring · club · stock · sharp

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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. cold — an illness
  4. club — for golf
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. row — to paddle
  7. row — a line
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. stock — shares
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. sharp — clever
  16. spring — a coil
  17. craft — boats
  18. craft — a skill
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. stock — goods
  21. spring — the season
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. club — a group
  24. cabinet — ministers

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