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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: stand · game · last · track · field · clip · net · jam

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. game — wild animals
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — a match
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. last — final
  9. net — in sport
  10. field — a subject
  11. net — after costs
  12. field — for sport
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. clip — to cut
  16. track — a song
  17. track — a path
  18. stand — to bear
  19. clip — a video
  20. track — to keep track
  21. field — farmland
  22. last — to go on
  23. last — finally
  24. clip — for paper

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