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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: wave · pound · wind · straw · last · cold · bowl · track

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. last — to go on
  3. last — final
  4. pound — a weight
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. last — finally
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. track — a song
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. track — to keep track
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bowl — a football final

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