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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: spring · wake · arm · stand · tear · plane · track · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. stand — to bear
  4. tear — from crying
  5. track — a song
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. track — to keep track
  9. plane — a tool
  10. wake — a trail
  11. spring — a coil
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. tear — to rip
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. spring — of water
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. cold — not warm
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. spring — the season
  23. track — a path
  24. tear — from crying

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