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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. craft — a skill
  4. field — farmland
  5. pop — soda
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. row — a line
  8. game — a match
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. pop — to visit
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. field — for sport
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. bat — the animal
  16. field — a subject
  17. pop — music
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. row — to paddle
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. craft — boats
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. game — wild animals

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