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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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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 · bat · track · kid · squash · field · hide · last

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. field — for sport
  3. squash — to crush
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. track — a path
  6. bat — the animal
  7. field — farmland
  8. last — finally
  9. field — a subject
  10. kid — to tease
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. squash — the sport
  15. last — final
  16. track — a song
  17. track — to keep track
  18. pound — a weight
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. last — to go on
  22. kid — child
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. hide — to keep secret

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