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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 · track · drill · plane · key · swing · race · roll

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. key — for a lock
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. track — a path
  6. drill — army training
  7. roll — a list
  8. roll — a cake
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. race — a contest
  11. key — in music
  12. swing — to play on
  13. drill — a practice
  14. race — humankind
  15. plane — a tool
  16. drill — the tool
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. track — to keep track
  19. swing — in golf
  20. track — a song
  21. swing — music
  22. key — the most important part
  23. race — the arms race
  24. cold — an illness

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