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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: field · roll · tube · chair · net · pound · wound · club

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — in sport
  4. field — farmland
  5. wound — an injury
  6. chair — a leader
  7. pound — a weight
  8. club — for dancing
  9. net — for catching
  10. wound — an injury
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. tube — the underground
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. roll — a list
  18. club — a group
  19. tube — a container
  20. club — for golf
  21. roll — a cake
  22. field — a subject
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. pound — for dogs

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