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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: rush · field · bass · cold · temple · nail · track · mine

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. bass — the fish
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. track — a path
  7. field — farmland
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. mine — for digging
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. bass — low music
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. track — a song
  20. field — for sport
  21. track — to keep track
  22. cold — not warm
  23. field — a subject
  24. cold — an illness

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