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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: snap · mark · last · bat · wave · cold · jam · track

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. last — final
  6. snap — to click
  7. last — finally
  8. last — to go on
  9. cold — not warm
  10. track — a song
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. track — a path
  14. mark — a grade
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. mark — a trace
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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