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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. craft — boats
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. field — for sport
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. field — farmland
  17. ball — a dance
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. shower — rain
  20. field — a subject
  21. perch — the fish
  22. shower — to wash
  23. ball — a great time
  24. wake — a trail

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