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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: cold · cap · lie · track · last · row · current · prune

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. track — a song
  3. current — of water
  4. last — to go on
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cap — a lid
  7. lie — to recline
  8. last — finally
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. prune — to trim
  11. cap — a hat
  12. cold — an illness
  13. prune — to trim
  14. row — to paddle
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. current — electric
  18. last — final
  19. track — a path
  20. cap — of ice
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. track — to keep track
  24. row — a line

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