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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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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: track · rule · date · pound · row · face · cold · swing

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. date — the fruit
  3. rule — a law
  4. track — a path
  5. track — to keep track
  6. face — part of the head
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — to paddle
  9. swing — music
  10. track — a song
  11. cold — an illness
  12. rule — government
  13. face — to point toward
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. swing — in golf
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. cold — not warm
  20. row — a line
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. face — to confront
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. swing — to play on

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