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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 · court · land · track · field · cue · content · cold

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. content — happy
  3. track — a song
  4. content — the amount
  5. land — to come down
  6. court — of a king
  7. court — for sport
  8. court — of law
  9. cue — for pool
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. track — a path
  12. field — for sport
  13. cue — a hint
  14. field — a subject
  15. track — to keep track
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cue — a signal
  19. craft — a skill
  20. cold — an illness
  21. craft — boats
  22. field — farmland
  23. land — ground
  24. craft — a handicraft

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