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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cap — a hat
  4. last — final
  5. swing — in golf
  6. mate — a friend
  7. track — to keep track
  8. march — music
  9. face — to point toward
  10. march — the month
  11. cap — of ice
  12. track — a song
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cap — a lid
  16. swing — to play on
  17. last — finally
  18. last — to go on
  19. march — the month
  20. mate — a partner
  21. swing — music
  22. face — to confront
  23. mate — to breed
  24. face — part of the head

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