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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 · clip · racket · field · chest · bay · rock · mark

  1. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — to keep at bay
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. chest — a box
  6. field — for sport
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. craft — boats
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. field — a subject
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. mark — a trace
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. chest — of your body
  16. clip — a video
  17. craft — a skill
  18. field — farmland
  19. rock — music
  20. chest — of your body
  21. rock — a stone
  22. clip — for paper
  23. mark — a grade
  24. clip — to cut

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