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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. track — a song
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. cap — a hat
  7. bound — certain
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. cap — of ice
  10. board — a committee
  11. bound — obliged
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cap — a lid
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. pound — a weight
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. bound — tied together
  21. board — to get on
  22. track — a path
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. straw — a straw man

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