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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 120 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. The water is too ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. track — a song
  3. track — a path
  4. pop — music
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rest — a break
  7. firm — a company
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. rest — what's left
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. pop — to visit
  12. cold — an illness
  13. kid — to tease
  14. firm — steady
  15. firm — decided
  16. pop — soda
  17. kid — child
  18. track — to keep track

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