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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: vault · pitcher · shower · track · file · toast · field · spell

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. 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. track — a path
  2. shower — to wash
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. spell — magic
  5. field — for sport
  6. file — a tool
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. field — farmland
  9. toast — bread
  10. file — a document
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. file — a line of people
  16. spell — a short time
  17. shower — rain
  18. spell — letters
  19. track — to keep track
  20. vault — a safe
  21. track — a song
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. 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