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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: tear · shower · nail · hand · court · tube · track · cell

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. cell — a phone
  3. track — a song
  4. shower — to wash
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. hand — help
  8. tube — a container
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. court — of a king
  11. shower — rain
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. track — to keep track
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tube — the underground
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. court — for sport
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. court — of law
  21. hand — in cards
  22. cell — in biology
  23. track — a path
  24. nail — for a hammer

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