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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 120 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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wound — an injury
  3. track — a path
  4. track — to keep track
  5. race — humankind
  6. perch — the fish
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. race — a contest
  11. bark — to shout
  12. tube — a container
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. race — the arms race
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. tube — the underground
  18. shower — rain
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. track — a song

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