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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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468
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: pound · pitch · spring · stick · field · wake · drill · track

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. field — farmland
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. field — a subject
  5. drill — a practice
  6. drill — army training
  7. track — to keep track
  8. field — for sport
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. wake — a trail
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. pound — a weight
  13. drill — the tool
  14. spring — the season
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. spring — a coil
  17. track — a song
  18. spring — of water
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. track — a path
  23. pitch — completely
  24. wake — before a funeral

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