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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 120 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: rock · squash · bear · land · cold · fall · track · lean

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. track — to keep track
  3. fall — to drop
  4. cold — not warm
  5. fall — to drop
  6. land — ground
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. lean — to bend
  10. track — a path
  11. lean — thin
  12. track — a song
  13. rock — a stone
  14. squash — the sport
  15. land — to come down
  16. fall — the season
  17. squash — to crush
  18. land — a country
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bear — the animal
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. rock — music

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