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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: court · march · bat · drill · wake · scale · field · craft

  1. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. scale — size or range
  3. field — a subject
  4. march — the month
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. court — for sport
  7. march — music
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. wake — a trail
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. scale — in music
  12. march — the month
  13. drill — a practice
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. field — for sport
  16. field — farmland
  17. drill — the tool
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. bat — the animal
  20. court — of law
  21. court — of a king
  22. craft — boats
  23. drill — army training
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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