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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 120 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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. degree — an amount
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. craft — a skill
  6. craft — boats
  7. degree — from a university
  8. field — farmland
  9. stem — to come from
  10. saw — the tool
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. saw — the tool
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. can — a tin
  19. degree — temperature
  20. can — a tin
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. field — for sport
  23. field — a subject
  24. can — to be able to

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