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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. pound — a weight
  3. track — to keep track
  4. wound — an injury
  5. rest — what's left
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. rest — a break
  8. rest — what's left
  9. wound — an injury
  10. key — in music
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. field — farmland
  13. row — to paddle
  14. key — the most important part
  15. field — a subject
  16. field — for sport
  17. track — a song
  18. track — a path
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. row — a line
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. key — for a lock
  24. kid — child

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