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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: field · chair · stick · cold · march · content · mug · track

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. track — to keep track
  3. march — the month
  4. mug — to rob
  5. march — the month
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. field — farmland
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. chair — a leader
  11. track — a path
  12. mug — a face
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. content — the amount
  16. cold — not warm
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. mug — a cup
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. march — music
  21. cold — an illness
  22. content — happy
  23. field — a subject
  24. track — a song

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