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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 120 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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. tube — a container
  5. track — to keep track
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. track — a song
  9. swing — music
  10. swing — in golf
  11. track — a path
  12. field — a subject
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. rush — hurry
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. field — for sport
  18. plane — a tool
  19. mine — for digging
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. swing — to play on
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. field — farmland

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