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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: fall · track · roll · wax · bound · land · cold · band

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — to come down
  3. bound — certain
  4. track — a song
  5. roll — a cake
  6. band — a ring
  7. fall — the season
  8. bound — tied together
  9. fall — to drop
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. track — a path
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. land — a country
  15. band — a music group
  16. bound — obliged
  17. wax — to grow
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. fall — to drop
  20. track — to keep track
  21. cold — not warm
  22. roll — a list
  23. cold — an illness
  24. wax — in the ear

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