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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: chest · swing · can · track · fall · mate · bear · mine

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. can — a tin
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. track — a path
  6. mate — to breed
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. track — to keep track
  9. bear — the animal
  10. swing — to play on
  11. fall — to drop
  12. can — a tin
  13. mine — for digging
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — the season
  16. chest — a box
  17. bear — the animal
  18. can — to be able to
  19. chest — of your body
  20. swing — in golf
  21. mate — a friend
  22. track — a song
  23. chest — of your body
  24. swing — 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