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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cap — a hat
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. track — a song
  5. lean — thin
  6. cap — of ice
  7. band — a music group
  8. tear — from crying
  9. rule — a law
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. cold — not warm
  12. track — to keep track
  13. row — to paddle
  14. lean — to bend
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. band — a ring
  17. cap — a lid
  18. rule — government
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. row — a line
  22. tear — from crying
  23. track — a path
  24. tear — to rip

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