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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: leaves · pop · chest · swing · mine · fall · rule · track

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. fall — to drop
  3. track — to keep track
  4. pop — music
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. swing — music
  9. track — a song
  10. mine — for digging
  11. chest — of your body
  12. fall — the season
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. rule — a law
  15. rule — government
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. pop — soda
  18. swing — in golf
  19. swing — to play on
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. chest — a box
  22. pop — to visit
  23. fall — to drop
  24. chest — of your body

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