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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 spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. suit — to fit
  3. craft — boats
  4. spring — of water
  5. file — a document
  6. file — a tool
  7. spring — the season
  8. field — a subject
  9. bass — low music
  10. bass — the fish
  11. ground — a position
  12. suit — in cards
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. ground — crushed
  15. file — a line of people
  16. lean — thin
  17. lean — to bend
  18. field — farmland
  19. field — for sport
  20. spring — a coil
  21. ground — the earth
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. suit — clothes

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