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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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. spring — of water
  4. field — a subject
  5. craft — boats
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. field — for sport
  8. band — a ring
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. cold — not warm
  13. field — farmland
  14. foot — a measure
  15. spring — a coil
  16. craft — a skill
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. perch — the fish
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. band — a music group
  23. spring — the season
  24. trunk — of a tree

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