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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cold · stem · track · bat · swing · march · calf · wake

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. track — to keep track
  3. wake — a trail
  4. swing — music
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bat — the animal
  8. march — the month
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. stem — to come from
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. track — a path
  16. march — the month
  17. swing — in golf
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. track — a song
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. march — music
  24. cold — the Cold War

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