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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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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: court · file · ground · wind · toast · track · nail · kid

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. kid — to tease
  4. file — a line of people
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. ground — a position
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. track — a song
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. court — of a king
  11. court — for sport
  12. file — a document
  13. kid — child
  14. track — a path
  15. track — to keep track
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. court — of law
  18. wind — moving air
  19. ground — crushed
  20. file — a tool
  21. ground — the earth
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. toast — bread
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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