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

Word bank: drill · stock · tear · track · ground · shower · chair · prune

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. stock — shares
  3. tear — to rip
  4. drill — army training
  5. track — to keep track
  6. ground — a position
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. prune — to trim
  9. ground — crushed
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. shower — rain
  13. stock — goods
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. shower — to wash
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. track — a path
  18. drill — a practice
  19. chair — a leader
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — from crying
  22. drill — the tool
  23. ground — the earth
  24. prune — to trim

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