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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: cold · rush · rock · sharp · nail · track · chest · rash

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. sharp — clever
  4. track — to keep track
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. rash — hasty
  12. track — a path
  13. chest — of your body
  14. rock — a stone
  15. track — a song
  16. cold — an illness
  17. chest — of your body
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. rush — hurry
  20. rash — a series
  21. chest — a box
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. cold — not warm
  24. sharp — exactly

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