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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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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: craft · field · cell · straw · mine · capital · content · root

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. capital — money
  6. root — of a plant
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. content — the amount
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. cell — in biology
  12. capital — a city
  13. cell — a phone
  14. content — happy
  15. mine — for digging
  16. root — the cause
  17. craft — boats
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. root — of a word
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — a subject
  24. craft — a skill

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