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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. field — for sport
  3. craft — a skill
  4. ground — crushed
  5. chair — a leader
  6. net — for catching
  7. spring — a coil
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. net — in sport
  10. ground — a position
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — farmland
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. spring — the season
  19. net — after costs
  20. craft — boats
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. ground — the earth
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. spring — of water

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