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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: field · ruler · cap · pound · chest · track

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. track — a song
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. cap — a hat
  6. field — a subject
  7. chest — a box
  8. pound — a weight
  9. chest — of your body
  10. field — farmland
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. field — for sport
  13. cap — a lid
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. cap — of ice
  17. chest — of your body
  18. track — a path

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