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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. craft — boats
  3. cold — not warm
  4. track — a song
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — a subject
  10. chair — a leader
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. track — a path
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. craft — a skill
  18. cold — an illness

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