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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: face · ball · tear · stand · track · date · cold · sharp

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. track — to keep track
  3. ball — a great time
  4. stand — to bear
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. cold — an illness
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. ball — a dance
  11. face — to confront
  12. face — to point toward
  13. sharp — clever
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cold — not warm
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. date — the fruit
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. track — a song
  20. tear — to rip
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. face — part of the head
  24. track — a path

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