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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. hand — in cards
  3. field — a subject
  4. ground — the earth
  5. field — farmland
  6. sharp — clever
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. degree — an amount
  9. saw — the tool
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. craft — a skill
  12. degree — temperature
  13. craft — boats
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. fall — to drop
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. fall — the season
  18. degree — from a university
  19. saw — the tool
  20. hand — help
  21. ground — a position
  22. fall — to drop
  23. field — for sport
  24. ground — crushed

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