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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: drill · ball · straw · rash · net · track · court · game

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. game — a match
  3. net — for catching
  4. track — a song
  5. net — after costs
  6. court — of law
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. game — wild animals
  9. rash — a series
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. net — in sport
  12. track — a path
  13. ball — a great time
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. drill — the tool
  16. drill — army training
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. ball — a dance
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. court — of a king
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. court — for sport
  23. rash — hasty
  24. drill — a practice

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