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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 124 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: bear · mouse · band · track · shower · lean · cold · wind

  1. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. lean — to bend
  4. band — a music group
  5. shower — rain
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. cold — an illness
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. track — a song
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. track — a path
  14. track — to keep track
  15. shower — to wash
  16. band — a ring
  17. lean — thin
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cold — not warm
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. bear — the animal
  24. wind — to turn a key

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