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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: hide · cue · wind · foot · track · bat · field · present

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. field — a subject
  4. bat — the animal
  5. cue — a hint
  6. field — for sport
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. present — a gift
  11. cue — a signal
  12. present — there
  13. foot — a measure
  14. field — farmland
  15. track — to keep track
  16. wind — moving air
  17. present — the time now
  18. track — a path
  19. cue — for pool
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. track — a song
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. wind — moving air
  24. bat — in an idiom

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