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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: craft · field · clip · mate · cap · stock · coach · land

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. clip — a video
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. craft — a skill
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. land — a country
  9. cap — a lid
  10. land — ground
  11. land — to come down
  12. clip — to cut
  13. cap — a hat
  14. field — for sport
  15. clip — for paper
  16. stock — shares
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. craft — boats
  19. mate — to breed
  20. mate — a friend
  21. cap — of ice
  22. field — a subject
  23. stock — goods
  24. field — farmland

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