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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. track — to keep track
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. bound — obliged
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. field — for sport
  8. field — a subject
  9. game — wild animals
  10. tear — from crying
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. bound — tied together
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. wound — an injury
  16. tear — from crying
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. track — a song
  19. game — a match
  20. plane — a tool
  21. bound — certain
  22. tear — to rip
  23. track — a path
  24. wound — an injury

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