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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: row · wind · saw · track · cell · bark · field · trunk

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. saw — the tool
  3. track — a song
  4. bark — to shout
  5. cell — a phone
  6. track — a path
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cell — in biology
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. track — to keep track
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — a subject
  14. wind — moving air
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. row — to paddle
  18. field — farmland
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. bark — of a tree

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