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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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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: track · cell · kid · wake · stick · roll · row · last

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. row — a line
  3. roll — a cake
  4. wake — a trail
  5. cell — a phone
  6. track — a path
  7. kid — to tease
  8. last — to go on
  9. track — to keep track
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. roll — a list
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. kid — child
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. row — to paddle
  18. last — final
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. cell — in biology
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. track — a song
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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