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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — a subject
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. craft — a skill
  6. hand — in cards
  7. land — to come down
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — to trim
  10. degree — temperature
  11. land — ground
  12. field — farmland
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. degree — an amount
  15. land — a country
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. craft — boats
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. vault — a safe
  20. degree — from a university
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. hand — help

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