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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: track · bark · roll · cell · season · rock · present · ground

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. rock — music
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. ground — a position
  6. cell — a phone
  7. rock — a stone
  8. roll — a list
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. track — to keep track
  11. track — a path
  12. cell — in biology
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. ground — the earth
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. present — a gift
  17. ground — crushed
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. present — the time now
  20. track — a song
  21. season — in sport
  22. bark — to shout
  23. present — there
  24. season — of the year

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