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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. field — farmland
  4. mate — a partner
  5. field — for sport
  6. land — a country
  7. craft — boats
  8. chip — for betting
  9. tube — the underground
  10. march — the month
  11. chip — to eat
  12. march — the month
  13. march — music
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. land — to come down
  17. mate — a friend
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. field — a subject
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. land — ground
  23. tube — a container
  24. mate — to breed

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