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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 124 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: field · capital · hand · cold · toast · pit · club · track

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. track — a song
  3. track — a path
  4. cold — not warm
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — for sport
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. capital — money
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — help
  12. field — farmland
  13. capital — a city
  14. club — a group
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. toast — bread
  17. track — to keep track
  18. cold — an illness
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. hand — in cards
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. pit — in a race
  23. club — for dancing
  24. pit — a hole

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