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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. field — for sport
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. track — a path
  5. spring — a coil
  6. track — a song
  7. last — to go on
  8. hand — in cards
  9. key — the most important part
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. rush — hurry
  12. hand — help
  13. row — a line
  14. field — farmland
  15. last — finally
  16. field — a subject
  17. spring — of water
  18. spring — the season
  19. track — to keep track
  20. row — to paddle
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. key — in music
  23. key — for a lock
  24. rush — a thrill

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