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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: cap · tear · track · scale · season · spell · perch · cold

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — not warm
  4. season — in sport
  5. cap — a hat
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. spell — a short time
  8. track — a song
  9. perch — the fish
  10. cap — of ice
  11. tear — from crying
  12. cold — an illness
  13. spell — letters
  14. tear — from crying
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. tear — to rip
  18. scale — in music
  19. cap — a lid
  20. season — of the year
  21. track — a path
  22. scale — size or range
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. spell — magic

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