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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. craft — boats
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. field — farmland
  6. field — for sport
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. squash — the sport
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. land — a country
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. craft — a skill
  14. rush — hurry
  15. spring — of water
  16. spring — the season
  17. kid — to tease
  18. land — to come down
  19. land — ground
  20. kid — child
  21. squash — to crush
  22. field — a subject
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. plane — a tool

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