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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: chest · date · shower · leaves · deal · field · bay · track

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. track — a song
  3. chest — of your body
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. field — for sport
  8. chest — a box
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. shower — to wash
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. date — the fruit
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. field — farmland
  15. field — a subject
  16. shower — rain
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. chest — of your body
  21. track — to keep track
  22. track — a path
  23. deal — to handle
  24. date — on the calendar

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