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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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. bass — low music
  3. field — farmland
  4. file — a tool
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. bark — to shout
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. mark — a trace
  9. craft — boats
  10. cap — a hat
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. field — for sport
  13. bass — the fish
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. field — a subject
  17. craft — a skill
  18. file — a document
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. file — a line of people
  21. sharp — clever
  22. cap — a lid
  23. mark — a grade
  24. cap — of ice

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