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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 116 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: rash · degree · track · lie · land · field · straw · last

  1. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. land — to come down
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. rash — hasty
  5. degree — an amount
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. field — a subject
  9. field — farmland
  10. track — a song
  11. land — a country
  12. field — for sport
  13. last — final
  14. track — to keep track
  15. degree — temperature
  16. rash — a series
  17. land — ground
  18. lie — to recline
  19. degree — from a university
  20. track — a path
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. last — to go on
  24. last — finally

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