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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.

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: cold · track · bat · saw · row · roll · foot · chip

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. track — a song
  3. track — to keep track
  4. roll — a list
  5. saw — the tool
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. chip — to eat
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. track — a path
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. foot — a measure
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bat — the animal
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. cold — not warm
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. chip — for betting
  19. row — to paddle
  20. row — a line
  21. saw — the tool
  22. roll — a cake
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. bat — for baseball

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