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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. bat — the animal
  7. prune — to trim
  8. craft — boats
  9. prune — to trim
  10. file — a line of people
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. field — farmland
  13. craft — a skill
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a tool
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. fork — in a road
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. field — for sport
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. wave — of the sea

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