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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: ground · track · fall · cold · chest · rash · season · rush

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. fall — to drop
  3. season — in sport
  4. track — a path
  5. track — to keep track
  6. chest — of your body
  7. ground — a position
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. ground — the earth
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. ground — crushed
  14. rash — a series
  15. track — a song
  16. fall — the season
  17. fall — to drop
  18. chest — of your body
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. rush — hurry
  21. chest — a box
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. season — of the year
  24. season — to add flavour

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