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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. shower — to wash
  3. pound — a weight
  4. tear — from crying
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. tear — from crying
  8. track — a song
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. stock — goods
  12. shower — rain
  13. tube — a container
  14. stock — shares
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. tear — to rip
  17. tube — the underground
  18. track — to keep track
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. bark — to shout
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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