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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 116 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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. cue — a signal
  3. field — for sport
  4. craft — a skill
  5. root — of a word
  6. row — a line
  7. cue — a hint
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. field — a subject
  10. net — in sport
  11. net — for catching
  12. root — of a plant
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. hand — help
  17. stem — to come from
  18. net — after costs
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. field — farmland
  21. row — to paddle
  22. hand — in cards
  23. root — the cause
  24. cue — for pool

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