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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. tube — a container
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. pop — soda
  6. prune — to trim
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. prune — to trim
  9. shower — rain
  10. pop — music
  11. tube — the underground
  12. track — a song
  13. track — a path
  14. wound — an injury
  15. pop — to visit
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. wound — an injury
  18. track — to keep track

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