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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: cold · swing · wake · track · can · fall · season · saw

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. season — in sport
  4. can — a tin
  5. swing — to play on
  6. cold — not warm
  7. season — of the year
  8. wake — a trail
  9. track — a song
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. cold — an illness
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. track — to keep track
  14. fall — the season
  15. saw — the tool
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. saw — the tool
  18. swing — music
  19. can — a tin
  20. track — a path
  21. fall — to drop
  22. swing — in golf
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. fall — to drop

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