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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: cold · content · wake · track · mate · mouse · kick · rule

  1. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. track — a path
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. mate — a partner
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. cold — an illness
  7. content — the amount
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. content — happy
  10. mate — to breed
  11. rule — a law
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. track — a song
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. track — to keep track
  18. rule — government
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. mate — a friend
  23. wake — a trail
  24. kick — in football

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