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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pound · craft · file · cold · track · chair

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. craft — a skill
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. pound — a weight
  6. craft — boats
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. cold — an illness
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. file — a document
  12. track — a song
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. file — a tool
  15. track — a path
  16. chair — a leader
  17. cold — not warm
  18. track — to keep track

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