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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: track · file · net · kick · hand · nail · field · wound

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. net — after costs
  3. track — a path
  4. kick — in football
  5. net — for catching
  6. hand — help
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. field — a subject
  9. hand — in cards
  10. track — a song
  11. file — a line of people
  12. wound — an injury
  13. file — a document
  14. net — in sport
  15. track — to keep track
  16. wound — an injury
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. file — a tool
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — farmland
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. kick — with a leg

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