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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bank — for money
  5. cold — not warm
  6. track — a path
  7. squash — the sport
  8. bank — for money
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bank — of a river
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. track — a song
  13. squash — to crush
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. cell — in biology
  16. chair — a leader
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. chair — to sit on

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