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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. bound — certain
  3. net — for catching
  4. field — for sport
  5. court — of law
  6. track — a song
  7. court — of a king
  8. court — for sport
  9. net — in sport
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. firm — steady
  12. field — a subject
  13. firm — a company
  14. field — farmland
  15. bound — obliged
  16. plane — a tool
  17. bound — tied together
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. net — after costs
  20. firm — decided
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. track — a path
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — the animal

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