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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

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

Word bank: shower · track · kid · game · row · cap

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. row — a line
  4. shower — rain
  5. track — a song
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. cap — of ice
  8. shower — to wash
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. track — a path
  11. game — wild animals
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. kid — to tease
  14. game — a match
  15. kid — child
  16. cap — a hat
  17. cap — a lid
  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