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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. land — to come down
  3. file — a tool
  4. land — ground
  5. mate — a friend
  6. mate — a partner
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. field — farmland
  9. can — to be able to
  10. field — a subject
  11. can — a tin
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. mate — to breed
  14. field — for sport
  15. craft — boats
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. land — a country
  19. file — a line of people
  20. can — a tin
  21. craft — a skill
  22. fork — in a road
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. file — a document

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