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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: kid · chest · track · land · rash · ground · march · club

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. track — to keep track
  5. ground — a position
  6. march — the month
  7. chest — of your body
  8. rash — hasty
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. kid — to tease
  11. chest — a box
  12. land — a country
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. club — for dancing
  15. chest — of your body
  16. land — to come down
  17. track — a song
  18. ground — the earth
  19. rash — a series
  20. track — a path
  21. land — ground
  22. kid — child
  23. club — for golf
  24. club — a group

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