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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: ground · drill · lean · game · pit · track · shower · field

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. track — to keep track
  3. game — wild animals
  4. ground — a position
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. track — a path
  7. field — for sport
  8. shower — rain
  9. drill — the tool
  10. game — a match
  11. drill — army training
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. pit — a hole
  14. pit — in a race
  15. ground — the earth
  16. shower — to wash
  17. field — farmland
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. lean — to bend
  21. field — a subject
  22. track — a song
  23. lean — thin
  24. drill — a practice

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