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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 120 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 · cell · can · last · track · wound · bark · pitcher

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. last — to go on
  4. shower — rain
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. track — a path
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. track — to keep track
  9. last — final
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. cell — in biology
  14. can — a tin
  15. shower — to wash
  16. wound — an injury
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. last — finally
  19. track — a song
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bark — to shout
  22. can — a tin
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. cell — a phone

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