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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. present — there
  3. field — for sport
  4. track — a path
  5. march — music
  6. track — to keep track
  7. track — a song
  8. last — to go on
  9. field — a subject
  10. last — final
  11. present — a gift
  12. face — to confront
  13. march — the month
  14. face — part of the head
  15. present — the time now
  16. march — the month
  17. pound — a weight
  18. last — finally
  19. face — to point toward
  20. field — farmland
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. pound — for dogs

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