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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 · rest · cold · cabinet · row · trunk · firm · dip

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. firm — steady
  3. rest — a break
  4. cold — an illness
  5. row — a line
  6. rest — what's left
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. rest — what's left
  11. track — a song
  12. track — to keep track
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. track — a path
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. cold — not warm
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. firm — a company
  21. dip — to sink
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. row — to paddle

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