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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 124 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. The water is too ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. tube — the underground
  5. bear — the animal
  6. wake — a trail
  7. track — a path
  8. bear — the animal
  9. tube — a container
  10. key — the most important part
  11. key — for a lock
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. key — in music
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. last — to go on
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. track — a song
  21. track — to keep track
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. last — final
  24. last — finally

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