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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. land — a country
  3. cue — a hint
  4. field — farmland
  5. land — to come down
  6. ball — a dance
  7. craft — boats
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. shower — to wash
  10. field — for sport
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. cue — a signal
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. spell — letters
  15. stem — to come from
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. shower — rain
  19. land — ground
  20. cue — for pool
  21. field — a subject
  22. craft — a skill
  23. spell — magic
  24. spell — a short time

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