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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: board · land · track · prune · fall · row · hide · shower

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. board — to get on
  5. land — ground
  6. fall — to drop
  7. land — to come down
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. row — a line
  12. fall — to drop
  13. track — a song
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. shower — rain
  16. fall — the season
  17. land — a country
  18. prune — to trim
  19. track — a path
  20. track — to keep track
  21. prune — to trim
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. board — a committee
  24. row — to paddle

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