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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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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. mug — a face
  3. track — a path
  4. track — to keep track
  5. field — farmland
  6. field — for sport
  7. band — a music group
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. hand — in cards
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. band — a ring
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. field — a subject
  15. hand — help
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. track — a song
  20. cold — an illness
  21. mug — to rob
  22. rush — hurry
  23. mug — a cup
  24. band — a rubber band

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