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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: shower · track · chair · club · leaves · land · row · tear

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. land — to come down
  3. land — ground
  4. row — a line
  5. land — a country
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. track — a song
  8. shower — rain
  9. shower — to wash
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. club — for golf
  12. tear — from crying
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. club — for dancing
  17. tear — to rip
  18. tear — from crying
  19. chair — a leader
  20. club — a group
  21. row — to paddle
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. track — a path

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