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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 116 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: racket · field · face · board · track · saw · file · bat

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. track — to keep track
  3. board — a committee
  4. board — to get on
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. track — a song
  8. bat — the animal
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. face — part of the head
  12. face — to confront
  13. field — for sport
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. face — to point toward
  16. track — a path
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. saw — the tool
  19. saw — the tool
  20. field — a subject
  21. file — a document
  22. field — farmland
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. file — a line of people

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