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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 116 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 keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. track — to keep track
  3. tear — to rip
  4. bass — low music
  5. track — a song
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. branch — a division
  8. tear — from crying
  9. lean — thin
  10. wind — moving air
  11. press — a publisher
  12. lean — to bend
  13. tear — from crying
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. bass — the fish
  18. mine — for digging
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. press — to push
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. press — newspapers

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