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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: mate · spell · track · wind · shower · bowl · game · field

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. game — a match
  5. shower — to wash
  6. field — farmland
  7. track — a song
  8. spell — a short time
  9. wind — moving air
  10. game — wild animals
  11. shower — rain
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. field — for sport
  15. spell — magic
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. mate — a partner
  18. mate — a friend
  19. spell — letters
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. wind — moving air
  22. track — a path
  23. field — a subject
  24. mate — to breed

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