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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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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: land · track · rash · fall · bound · cell

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. track — a song
  3. bound — obliged
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. bound — tied together
  6. rash — hasty
  7. cell — a phone
  8. bound — certain
  9. fall — the season
  10. fall — to drop
  11. track — to keep track
  12. land — a country
  13. land — ground
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. track — a path
  16. fall — to drop
  17. rash — a series
  18. cell — in biology

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