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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: season · track · saw · wound · field · sharp · wind · march

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. season — in sport
  3. saw — the tool
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. march — music
  6. wound — an injury
  7. march — the month
  8. sharp — clever
  9. saw — the tool
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. field — farmland
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. track — a song
  16. field — a subject
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. wind — moving air
  20. season — of the year
  21. field — for sport
  22. wind — moving air
  23. track — a path
  24. march — the month

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