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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. field — for sport
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. track — a song
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. saw — the tool
  7. shower — rain
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — an injury
  10. key — in music
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. track — a path
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. net — in sport
  16. net — for catching
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. saw — the tool
  19. key — for a lock
  20. key — the most important part
  21. net — after costs
  22. field — a subject
  23. field — farmland
  24. shower — to wash

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