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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: cue · file · track · mine · net · race · cell · field

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. race — humankind
  3. cue — a signal
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a document
  7. track — to keep track
  8. net — after costs
  9. field — for sport
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. track — a song
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. file — a tool
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cue — for pool
  16. net — in sport
  17. race — the arms race
  18. field — a subject
  19. mine — for digging
  20. cell — in biology
  21. track — a path
  22. net — for catching
  23. race — a contest
  24. cue — a hint

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