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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: bat · mouse · scale · net · craft · content · field · object

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. object — to protest
  3. field — a subject
  4. scale — in music
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. bat — the animal
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. net — after costs
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. content — happy
  11. field — for sport
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. craft — a skill
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. content — the amount
  17. net — in sport
  18. object — a thing
  19. scale — size or range
  20. craft — boats
  21. net — for catching
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. object — an aim
  24. mouse — the animal

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