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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: rash · track · shower · ground · tube · arm · bat · field

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. track — to keep track
  3. ground — a position
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. tube — the underground
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. ground — the earth
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. rash — hasty
  11. track — a song
  12. tube — a container
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. track — a path
  15. shower — rain
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — farmland
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. shower — to wash
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. field — a subject
  22. ground — crushed
  23. rash — a series
  24. arm — part of the body

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