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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 120 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: rock · pit · game · wind · field · clip · track · bat

  1. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. field — for sport
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. clip — to cut
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. field — a subject
  7. bat — the animal
  8. clip — for paper
  9. game — a match
  10. track — a song
  11. field — farmland
  12. track — to keep track
  13. rock — a stone
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. track — a path
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — moving air
  19. clip — a video
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. game — wild animals
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. pit — a hole
  24. rock — music

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