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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: court · band · pound · field · stock · craft · track · spell

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. track — a path
  5. court — for sport
  6. spell — letters
  7. band — a music group
  8. court — of law
  9. stock — shares
  10. spell — a short time
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. field — for sport
  13. court — of a king
  14. craft — boats
  15. pound — a weight
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. stock — goods
  19. field — a subject
  20. field — farmland
  21. band — a ring
  22. spell — magic
  23. track — a song
  24. craft — a skill

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