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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: cold · wave · chest · mark · fork · key · ground · track

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. key — in music
  3. mark — a trace
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. track — a song
  6. track — a path
  7. key — the most important part
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. cold — not warm
  11. ground — crushed
  12. fork — in a road
  13. ground — the earth
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. chest — of your body
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. track — to keep track
  19. cold — an illness
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. ground — a position
  24. mark — a grade

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