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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: land · cold · bark · rush · track · net · pop · squash

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pop — soda
  4. track — a path
  5. net — for catching
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. squash — to crush
  9. cold — an illness
  10. net — in sport
  11. rush — hurry
  12. bark — to shout
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. pop — music
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. land — a country
  17. land — to come down
  18. land — ground
  19. net — after costs
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. squash — the sport
  22. track — a song
  23. pop — to visit
  24. track — to keep track

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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