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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 120 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: chair · wound · track · pitcher · pound · hand · field · lie

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. pound — a weight
  4. lie — to recline
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. wound — an injury
  7. field — for sport
  8. hand — in cards
  9. hand — help
  10. field — a subject
  11. wound — an injury
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. track — to keep track
  15. field — farmland
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. track — a song
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. chair — a leader
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. track — a path

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