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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 116 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: firm · file · march · kid · track · calf · field · wind

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. field — farmland
  3. firm — steady
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. track — to keep track
  7. wind — moving air
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — for sport
  11. file — a line of people
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. wind — moving air
  14. track — a song
  15. file — a document
  16. kid — child
  17. track — a path
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. file — a tool
  20. march — the month
  21. firm — decided
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. kid — to tease

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