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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. field — farmland
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. craft — a skill
  5. prune — to trim
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bear — the animal
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. file — a tool
  11. race — a contest
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. race — the arms race
  14. field — for sport
  15. race — humankind
  16. fall — to drop
  17. field — a subject
  18. cold — not warm
  19. fall — to drop
  20. craft — boats
  21. bear — the animal
  22. prune — to trim
  23. fall — the season
  24. file — a document

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