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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. last — final
  5. field — farmland
  6. net — in sport
  7. mug — a face
  8. spring — the season
  9. charge — electricity
  10. field — a subject
  11. mug — to rob
  12. last — to go on
  13. field — for sport
  14. net — for catching
  15. charge — in control
  16. track — to keep track
  17. mug — a cup
  18. wound — an injury
  19. last — finally
  20. spring — a coil
  21. charge — a price
  22. spring — of water
  23. track — a path
  24. net — after costs

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