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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. row — a line
  3. land — a country
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. field — a subject
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. field — farmland
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. row — to paddle
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. tube — the underground
  16. land — to come down
  17. track — to keep track
  18. land — ground
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. track — a path
  21. track — a song
  22. bore — to tire
  23. tube — a container
  24. bore — to drill

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