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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: pitcher · tube · clip · last · spell · court · track · field

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. spell — letters
  3. court — of a king
  4. clip — a video
  5. track — to keep track
  6. last — to go on
  7. spell — a short time
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. court — of law
  10. field — a subject
  11. tube — a container
  12. spell — magic
  13. court — for sport
  14. field — farmland
  15. clip — to cut
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. tube — the underground
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. track — a path
  21. clip — for paper
  22. last — finally
  23. last — final
  24. field — for sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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