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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: club · perch · date · cold · last · track · content · bay

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. last — to go on
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. last — final
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. content — happy
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. content — the amount
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. track — a song
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. date — the fruit
  16. last — finally
  17. club — for dancing
  18. track — a path
  19. cold — an illness
  20. club — for golf
  21. cold — not warm
  22. track — to keep track
  23. club — a group
  24. perch — the fish

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