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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. wind — moving air
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. wind — moving air
  5. last — to go on
  6. file — a document
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. track — a song
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. field — farmland
  11. track — a path
  12. file — a line of people
  13. field — a subject
  14. chest — of your body
  15. file — a tool
  16. last — final
  17. last — finally
  18. chest — of your body
  19. rock — a stone
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. chest — a box
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. field — for sport
  24. rock — 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