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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
468
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: cold · wound · wind · leaves · wake · track · season · degree

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. track — a song
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. season — of the year
  7. cold — an illness
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. degree — an amount
  12. track — a path
  13. cold — not warm
  14. wake — a trail
  15. wind — moving air
  16. degree — temperature
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wind — moving air
  19. season — in sport
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. track — to keep track
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. wound — an injury

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