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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 124 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. fall — the season
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. field — for sport
  5. firm — a company
  6. drill — a practice
  7. track — to keep track
  8. net — in sport
  9. field — farmland
  10. fall — to drop
  11. kid — child
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. track — a path
  14. net — after costs
  15. fall — to drop
  16. field — a subject
  17. drill — the tool
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. track — a song
  20. drill — army training
  21. firm — decided
  22. firm — steady
  23. net — for catching
  24. coach — a trainer

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