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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: track · row · shower · tear · bound · ground · fork · cue

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. track — a song
  4. tear — to rip
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. bound — obliged
  7. ground — crushed
  8. bound — certain
  9. track — a path
  10. cue — a signal
  11. bound — tied together
  12. fork — in a road
  13. shower — rain
  14. cue — a hint
  15. tear — from crying
  16. ground — the earth
  17. row — a line
  18. ground — a position
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. cue — for pool
  21. track — to keep track
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. row — to paddle
  24. tear — from crying

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