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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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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: track · shower · pop · kid · stem · court · hide · wind

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. court — of law
  3. stem — to come from
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. pop — music
  6. wind — moving air
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. shower — to wash
  10. wind — moving air
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. court — of a king
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. shower — rain
  15. court — for sport
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. pop — soda
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. pop — to visit
  20. kid — to tease
  21. track — a song
  22. track — a path
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — child

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