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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. field — a subject
  3. mate — a partner
  4. craft — a skill
  5. mate — a friend
  6. capital — money
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. capital — a city
  10. craft — boats
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. mate — to breed
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. field — farmland
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. field — for sport
  20. mine — for digging
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. fork — in a road
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. cabinet — ministers

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