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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. craft — boats
  3. game — a match
  4. pit — a hole
  5. field — farmland
  6. bat — the animal
  7. game — wild animals
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. craft — a skill
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. row — to paddle
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — a line
  16. current — electric
  17. field — for sport
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. pit — in a race
  20. field — a subject
  21. current — happening now
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. current — 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