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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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Word bank
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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: key · clip · kick · track · field · pop

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. track — a path
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. key — the most important part
  5. track — to keep track
  6. field — farmland
  7. key — for a lock
  8. pop — to visit
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — for paper
  11. pop — soda
  12. field — for sport
  13. clip — a video
  14. track — a song
  15. key — in music
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. pop — music
  18. field — a subject

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