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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. court — for sport
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. spell — magic
  6. branch — a division
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. track — a song
  10. field — a subject
  11. spell — letters
  12. court — of law
  13. field — farmland
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. drill — a practice
  16. drill — the tool
  17. game — wild animals
  18. track — to keep track
  19. court — of a king
  20. game — a match
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. drill — army training
  23. field — for sport
  24. spell — a short time

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