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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bowl · coach · leaves · cold · land · perch · net · track

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. land — a country
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. cold — not warm
  6. track — a path
  7. track — a song
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. cold — an illness
  11. perch — the fish
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. net — for catching
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. land — to come down
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. net — in sport
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. land — ground
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. net — after costs
  24. perch — for a bird

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