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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 116 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: fall · track · cold · bear · stick · snap · spell · pitcher

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. track — to keep track
  3. track — a path
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. snap — to click
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. fall — the season
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fall — to drop
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bear — the animal
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. spell — a short time
  17. spell — magic
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bear — the animal
  21. spell — letters
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. track — a song
  24. cold — the Cold War

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