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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: squash · field · sharp · prune · wind · kid · current · track

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. wind — moving air
  3. squash — the sport
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. kid — to tease
  6. current — of water
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. field — farmland
  9. wind — moving air
  10. current — happening now
  11. sharp — clever
  12. field — for sport
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. prune — to trim
  15. current — electric
  16. squash — to crush
  17. track — a song
  18. kid — child
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. prune — to trim
  22. track — to keep track
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. field — a subject

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