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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: bound · field · current · court · cold · track · date · staff

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. current — of water
  3. staff — employees
  4. track — to keep track
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. court — for sport
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. court — of a king
  9. cold — an illness
  10. track — a path
  11. court — of law
  12. current — electric
  13. current — happening now
  14. field — farmland
  15. track — a song
  16. bound — tied together
  17. staff — a stick
  18. cold — not warm
  19. field — for sport
  20. staff — employees
  21. field — a subject
  22. bound — obliged
  23. date — the fruit
  24. bound — certain

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