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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. track — a path
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. track — to keep track
  5. wound — an injury
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. tube — the underground
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. cold — an illness
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. track — a song
  18. tube — a container
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. fall — to drop
  23. fall — to drop
  24. temple — a place of worship

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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