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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. track — to keep track
  3. cold — an illness
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. march — the month
  7. pound — a weight
  8. wake — a trail
  9. lean — to bend
  10. cold — not warm
  11. track — a song
  12. lean — thin
  13. track — a path
  14. march — music
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. wake — to stop sleeping

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