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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 120 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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. craft — a skill
  3. craft — boats
  4. mark — a trace
  5. field — a subject
  6. rest — what's left
  7. content — the amount
  8. mark — a grade
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. drill — the tool
  13. march — the month
  14. drill — a practice
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. rest — a break
  17. field — for sport
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. content — happy
  20. march — the month
  21. drill — army training
  22. march — music
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. rest — what's left

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