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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. capital — money
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. track — to keep track
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. field — farmland
  9. capital — a city
  10. club — for golf
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. field — a subject
  14. club — a group
  15. track — a song
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. club — for dancing
  19. bark — to shout
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. track — a path
  24. pitcher — a jug

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