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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. chip — to eat
  3. track — to keep track
  4. game — a match
  5. stand — to bear
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — for sport
  8. scale — size or range
  9. clip — for paper
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. chip — for betting
  14. row — a line
  15. scale — in music
  16. clip — to cut
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. field — farmland
  20. game — wild animals
  21. row — to paddle
  22. clip — a video
  23. track — a song
  24. stand — for spectators

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