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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 116 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: face · track · last · cell · current · wind · rush · mark

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. track — a path
  3. face — to point toward
  4. last — final
  5. mark — a grade
  6. track — a song
  7. face — to confront
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. cell — in biology
  10. wind — moving air
  11. last — finally
  12. face — part of the head
  13. current — of water
  14. track — to keep track
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. mark — a trace
  17. cell — a phone
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. last — to go on
  22. current — happening now
  23. current — electric
  24. cell — in a prison

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