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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. content — happy
  3. field — for sport
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — farmland
  6. content — the amount
  7. fall — the season
  8. bat — the animal
  9. track — to keep track
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. fall — to drop
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. fall — to drop
  17. track — a song
  18. bat — in an idiom

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