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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. field — farmland
  3. ground — crushed
  4. cell — a phone
  5. can — a tin
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. stand — to bear
  8. net — for catching
  9. cell — in biology
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. ground — the earth
  12. net — after costs
  13. field — a subject
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. spring — of water
  16. craft — a skill
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — the season
  19. can — to be able to
  20. ground — a position
  21. can — a tin
  22. field — for sport
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. net — in sport

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