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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. bat — the animal
  4. field — a subject
  5. file — a line of people
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. season — of the year
  8. hand — help
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. field — for sport
  11. hand — in cards
  12. season — in sport
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. field — farmland
  18. craft — boats
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. file — a tool
  23. file — a document
  24. craft — a skill

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