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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.

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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: ruler · rule · bat · field · season · pop · trunk · craft

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. craft — a skill
  3. rule — government
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. season — in sport
  6. field — for sport
  7. season — of the year
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. craft — boats
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. field — farmland
  12. rule — a law
  13. pop — soda
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. field — a subject
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. bat — the animal
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. pop — to visit
  24. pop — 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