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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: lean · patient · track · kid · cold · plane · wake · hide

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. kid — to tease
  3. wake — a trail
  4. track — a path
  5. track — a song
  6. lean — thin
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. kid — child
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. plane — a tool
  18. track — to keep track
  19. lean — to bend
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. cold — not warm
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. wake — before a funeral

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