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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. craft — boats
  3. hand — in cards
  4. can — to be able to
  5. can — a tin
  6. object — to protest
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. field — for sport
  9. rash — hasty
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. hand — help
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. field — a subject
  14. craft — a skill
  15. field — farmland
  16. can — a tin
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. spring — the season
  19. rash — a series
  20. stand — to bear
  21. spring — of water
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. object — a thing
  24. spring — a coil

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