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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. staff — a stick
  3. staff — employees
  4. fork — in a road
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. kid — child
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. swing — to play on
  9. field — a subject
  10. march — the month
  11. craft — a skill
  12. swing — music
  13. march — the month
  14. march — music
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. stem — to come from
  17. field — for sport
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. swing — in golf
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. kid — to tease
  22. staff — employees
  23. field — farmland
  24. stem — of a plant

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