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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.

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: craft · chest · field · capital · date · fan · bass · scale

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. craft — a skill
  4. capital — a city
  5. bass — low music
  6. chest — of your body
  7. field — a subject
  8. scale — size or range
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. chest — a box
  13. bass — the fish
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. field — farmland
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. field — for sport
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. capital — money
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. chest — of your body
  23. date — the fruit
  24. scale — in music

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