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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: track · cold · pass · spell · pop · mouse · spring · cell

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. spring — of water
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. spell — magic
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. spring — a coil
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. spell — letters
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. pop — music
  14. spell — a short time
  15. pass — a permit
  16. spring — the season
  17. cell — a phone
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. track — a song
  20. pop — to visit
  21. track — a path
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cell — in biology
  24. pop — soda

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