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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: straw · tube · track · field · spell · cold · toast · sharp

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. field — for sport
  3. cold — an illness
  4. spell — magic
  5. field — farmland
  6. field — a subject
  7. track — a song
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. tube — a container
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. cold — not warm
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. tube — the underground
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. track — to keep track
  18. toast — bread
  19. spell — a short time
  20. sharp — clever
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. track — a path
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. spell — letters

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