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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 · fine · wake · patient · saw · bark · game · track

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. track — a path
  3. fine — all right
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. saw — the tool
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. game — a match
  13. track — a song
  14. saw — the tool
  15. game — wild animals
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. fine — high quality
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. wake — a trail
  21. bark — to shout
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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