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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: rash · fan · fork · face · track · last · cold · content

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. track — to keep track
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. track — a song
  5. last — final
  6. last — finally
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. cold — not warm
  9. content — happy
  10. face — to point toward
  11. rash — a series
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. face — part of the head
  14. cold — an illness
  15. fork — in a road
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. last — to go on
  18. content — the amount
  19. rash — hasty
  20. face — to confront
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. fan — a supporter

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