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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: cabinet · pound · patient · race · track · last · cold · sharp

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. race — a contest
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. last — finally
  6. race — humankind
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. last — to go on
  9. track — a song
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. race — the arms race
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. pound — a weight
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. track — a path
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. last — final
  20. sharp — clever
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. sharp — exactly

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