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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: track · can · clip · board · swing · cold · bear · rule

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. can — a tin
  4. track — a path
  5. cold — an illness
  6. clip — to cut
  7. board — a committee
  8. swing — in golf
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. can — a tin
  11. rule — government
  12. board — to get on
  13. rule — a law
  14. bear — the animal
  15. can — to be able to
  16. bear — the animal
  17. cold — not warm
  18. track — a song
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. clip — for paper
  21. swing — music
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. swing — to play on
  24. clip — a video

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