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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: track · fork · tube · drill · race · field · bat · vault

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. field — a subject
  4. drill — a practice
  5. bat — the animal
  6. race — humankind
  7. tube — the underground
  8. tube — a container
  9. field — farmland
  10. track — to keep track
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. drill — the tool
  14. fork — in a road
  15. drill — army training
  16. race — a contest
  17. race — the arms race
  18. track — a song
  19. track — a path
  20. field — for sport
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. vault — a safe

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