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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 116 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: court · snap · land · squash · craft · field · sharp · tear

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  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. squash — the vegetable
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. court — of law
  4. court — for sport
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. tear — from crying
  7. land — ground
  8. land — to come down
  9. tear — from crying
  10. craft — boats
  11. field — a subject
  12. court — of a king
  13. tear — to rip
  14. squash — to crush
  15. sharp — clever
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. snap — to click
  18. squash — the sport
  19. field — for sport
  20. field — farmland
  21. land — a country
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  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