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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: chest · cold · ground · mouse · prune · wave · track · toast

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. chest — of your body
  5. track — a song
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. prune — to trim
  8. cold — an illness
  9. ground — the earth
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. track — to keep track
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. ground — a position
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — a box
  19. prune — to trim
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. ground — crushed
  23. track — a path
  24. mouse — for a computer

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