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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. game — a match
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. ground — crushed
  6. craft — boats
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. ground — the earth
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. ground — a position
  11. field — for sport
  12. hand — in cards
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. date — the fruit
  15. craft — a skill
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. game — wild animals
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. field — a subject
  20. hand — help
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. plane — a tool
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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