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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.

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: cold · craft · bark · squash · field · nail · safe · land

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  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. land — a country
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. cold — an illness
  4. squash — to crush
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. land — to come down
  9. squash — the sport
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. craft — boats
  13. cold — not warm
  14. land — ground
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. field — for sport
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. field — farmland
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. field — a subject
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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