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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: pitcher · wind · chip · roll · track · wound · field · nail

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. roll — a list
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. field — for sport
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. chip — to eat
  8. field — farmland
  9. field — a subject
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. wind — moving air
  12. chip — for betting
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. wound — an injury
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. track — a song
  20. track — a path
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. track — to keep track
  24. roll — on a roll

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