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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: shower · racket · swing · cold · net · staff · track · tear

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. swing — music
  3. shower — to wash
  4. cold — an illness
  5. track — to keep track
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. staff — a stick
  8. swing — in golf
  9. net — in sport
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. staff — employees
  12. staff — employees
  13. tear — from crying
  14. shower — rain
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. swing — to play on
  18. tear — from crying
  19. net — for catching
  20. track — a path
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. cold — not warm
  23. net — after costs
  24. tear — to rip

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