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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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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: squash · track · straw · kid · row · bat · field · pound

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. kid — to tease
  3. row — to paddle
  4. bat — the animal
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. field — for sport
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. field — farmland
  13. track — a song
  14. row — a line
  15. track — to keep track
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. field — a subject
  18. squash — to crush
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. kid — child
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. squash — the sport
  23. pound — a weight
  24. straw — dry grass

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