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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: bat · stock · trunk · deal · mate · band · craft · cold

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. band — a music group
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. cold — an illness
  6. craft — a skill
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. deal — to handle
  9. craft — boats
  10. mate — to breed
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. bat — the animal
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. band — a ring
  16. mate — a friend
  17. stock — shares
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. mate — a partner
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. stock — goods

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