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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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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: craft · field · scale · fan · clip · cell · tear · pit

  1. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. cell — in biology
  4. clip — for paper
  5. craft — boats
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cell — a phone
  9. scale — in music
  10. tear — from crying
  11. pit — a hole
  12. field — farmland
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. scale — size or range
  15. clip — to cut
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. pit — in a race
  18. tear — to rip
  19. field — a subject
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. field — for sport
  22. craft — a skill
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. clip — a video

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