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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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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. game — a match
  3. staff — a stick
  4. bat — the animal
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. last — final
  8. staff — employees
  9. game — wild animals
  10. craft — a skill
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — farmland
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. last — to go on
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. craft — boats
  19. stem — to come from
  20. field — for sport
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. fork — in a road
  23. last — finally
  24. stem — a stem cell

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