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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: last · track · hand · firm · fine · cold · land · row

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. fine — all right
  3. firm — decided
  4. last — final
  5. cold — an illness
  6. row — to paddle
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. land — a country
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. hand — in cards
  11. land — ground
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. firm — a company
  14. track — a song
  15. last — finally
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. fine — high quality
  19. hand — help
  20. row — a line
  21. track — a path
  22. land — to come down
  23. firm — steady
  24. last — to go on

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