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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.

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 · field · ground · ball · perch · squash · content

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  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. ball — a dance
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — for sport
  5. craft — boats
  6. ground — a position
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. cold — not warm
  9. squash — to crush
  10. field — a subject
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. content — happy
  14. perch — the fish
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. content — the amount
  17. squash — the sport
  18. ground — the earth
  19. craft — a skill
  20. ground — crushed
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. cold — an illness
  23. ball — a great time
  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