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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — farmland
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. field — a subject
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. capital — a city
  10. club — for golf
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. file — a tool
  13. craft — boats
  14. file — a document
  15. saw — the tool
  16. club — for dancing
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. club — a group
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. file — a line of people
  21. saw — the tool
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. craft — a skill
  24. capital — money

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