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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 · content · pass · row · toast · plane · cold · shower

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. track — a song
  5. track — to keep track
  6. cold — an illness
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. content — the amount
  9. shower — to wash
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. row — a line
  12. toast — bread
  13. cold — not warm
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. row — to paddle
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. shower — rain
  20. pass — a permit
  21. plane — a tool
  22. track — a path
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. content — happy

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