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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: track · file · straw · can · field · kid · foot · land

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. land — a country
  3. track — to keep track
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. can — to be able to
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. kid — to tease
  8. land — ground
  9. file — a line of people
  10. field — for sport
  11. foot — a measure
  12. track — a path
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. file — a tool
  15. track — a song
  16. file — a document
  17. land — to come down
  18. field — a subject
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. can — a tin
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. field — farmland
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. kid — child

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