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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: stand · cold · roll · wind · cell · track · ground · lie

  1. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. track — a path
  3. wind — moving air
  4. roll — a cake
  5. ground — a position
  6. ground — crushed
  7. track — to keep track
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. roll — a list
  11. cold — an illness
  12. stand — to bear
  13. cell — a phone
  14. wind — moving air
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cell — in biology
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. lie — to recline
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. cold — not warm
  21. track — a song
  22. ground — the earth
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. roll — on a roll

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