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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.

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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: shower · scale · craft · field · mark · race · cabinet · fall

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. craft — boats
  3. field — for sport
  4. fall — the season
  5. mark — a grade
  6. fall — to drop
  7. race — the arms race
  8. scale — size or range
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. shower — rain
  11. race — a contest
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. field — farmland
  15. craft — a skill
  16. fall — to drop
  17. scale — in music
  18. field — a subject
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. mark — a trace
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. race — humankind

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