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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's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. file — a tool
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. prune — to trim
  5. shower — to wash
  6. track — a path
  7. track — a song
  8. track — to keep track
  9. field — farmland
  10. craft — a skill
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. kick — in football
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. file — a line of people
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. field — for sport
  18. craft — boats
  19. file — a document
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — ground
  22. land — a country
  23. prune — to trim
  24. shower — rain

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