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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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. prune — to trim
  4. track — a song
  5. hand — help
  6. shower — to wash
  7. cold — an illness
  8. club — for dancing
  9. prune — to trim
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. track — a path
  12. bank — for money
  13. track — to keep track
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. field — farmland
  16. cold — not warm
  17. club — a group
  18. club — for golf
  19. bank — of a river
  20. field — a subject
  21. hand — in cards
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. field — for sport
  24. shower — rain

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