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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: band · scale · squash · track · field · ball · spring · file

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. file — a tool
  3. field — farmland
  4. track — a song
  5. field — a subject
  6. spring — the season
  7. file — a line of people
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. scale — in music
  10. band — a music group
  11. spring — of water
  12. scale — size or range
  13. band — a ring
  14. ball — a dance
  15. squash — the sport
  16. spring — a coil
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. field — for sport
  19. ball — a great time
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. track — to keep track
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. file — a document
  24. track — a path

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