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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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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: tear · shower · fall · bulb · track · cap · kick · field

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  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. shower — rain
  3. fall — the season
  4. cap — of ice
  5. fall — to drop
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. cap — a lid
  9. shower — to wash
  10. bulb — for light
  11. tear — from crying
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. tear — from crying
  14. kick — in football
  15. track — a path
  16. cap — a hat
  17. fall — to drop
  18. bulb — for light
  19. track — to keep track
  20. field — a subject
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — farmland
  23. bulb — of a plant
  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