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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. mug — a face
  3. field — a subject
  4. craft — a skill
  5. ground — a position
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. cold — an illness
  8. row — a line
  9. ground — the earth
  10. craft — boats
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. track — a song
  13. track — to keep track
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. field — for sport
  16. cold — not warm
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. ground — crushed
  19. mug — a cup
  20. row — to paddle
  21. track — a path
  22. fork — in a road
  23. mug — to rob
  24. field — farmland

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