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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chip · field · date · file · cold · wax · mate · craft

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. mate — a partner
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. file — a line of people
  5. chip — to eat
  6. craft — a skill
  7. mate — to breed
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. cold — not warm
  10. field — farmland
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. field — for sport
  13. chip — for betting
  14. wax — to grow
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. date — the fruit
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. mate — a friend
  19. file — a tool
  20. file — a document
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. craft — boats
  23. field — a subject
  24. cold — an illness

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