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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: net · race · craft · cell · wake · field

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. field — a subject
  3. net — in sport
  4. craft — boats
  5. race — the arms race
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. craft — a skill
  8. race — a contest
  9. net — after costs
  10. race — humankind
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cell — a phone
  13. field — farmland
  14. cell — in biology
  15. net — for catching
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. wake — a trail
  18. field — for sport

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