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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: field · fan · craft · court · chest · ruler · pit · clip

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. field — a subject
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. chest — a box
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. craft — boats
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. clip — for paper
  11. court — of a king
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. chest — of your body
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. field — for sport
  17. clip — to cut
  18. court — of law
  19. craft — a skill
  20. clip — a video
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. field — farmland
  23. pit — in a race
  24. court — 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