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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: wound · field · cold · ground · stand · toast · track · ruler

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. stand — to bear
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. cold — not warm
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. ground — crushed
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. field — a subject
  11. wound — an injury
  12. track — a path
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. cold — an illness
  17. wound — an injury
  18. track — a song
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — for sport
  21. ground — the earth
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. track — to keep track
  24. ground — a position

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