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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. spring — of water
  4. scale — size or range
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. spring — a coil
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. plane — a tool
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. ground — crushed
  13. ground — a position
  14. field — a subject
  15. ground — the earth
  16. craft — a skill
  17. spring — the season
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. craft — boats
  20. perch — the fish
  21. scale — in music
  22. field — for sport
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. sharp — clever

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