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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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. track — a path
  3. rash — hasty
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. track — a song
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. can — a tin
  9. row — a line
  10. track — to keep track
  11. field — a subject
  12. fall — to drop
  13. ground — crushed
  14. field — farmland
  15. can — a tin
  16. ground — the earth
  17. fall — the season
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. ground — a position
  20. can — to be able to
  21. field — for sport
  22. fall — to drop
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. row — to paddle

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