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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 120 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: land · track · arm · rock · mouse · mark · cold · season

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. rock — music
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. land — a country
  6. cold — not warm
  7. land — ground
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. rock — a stone
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. land — to come down
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. mark — a trace
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. track — a song
  18. season — in sport
  19. track — a path
  20. track — to keep track
  21. cold — an illness
  22. mark — a grade
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. season — of the year

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