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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: pitcher · current · track · row · fine · wake · bat · cold

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. track — to keep track
  6. row — to paddle
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. cold — not warm
  9. current — of water
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. track — a song
  12. fine — all right
  13. track — a path
  14. row — a line
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. current — happening now
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. wake — a trail
  21. bat — the animal
  22. fine — high quality
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. current — electric

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