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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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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: track · chest · cold · drill · rest · pound · bowl · tube

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. chest — of your body
  3. pound — a weight
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. rest — a break
  6. rest — what's left
  7. tube — a container
  8. chest — of your body
  9. track — a path
  10. chest — a box
  11. drill — army training
  12. drill — the tool
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tube — the underground
  15. rest — what's left
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. track — to keep track
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. drill — a practice

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