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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. track — to keep track
  4. current — electric
  5. row — to paddle
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. current — happening now
  8. wake — a trail
  9. current — of water
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. track — a song
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. bark — to shout
  17. row — a line
  18. cold — not warm
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. tube — a container
  21. tube — the underground
  22. track — a path
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. stand — for spectators

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