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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 · firm · pitch · wake · object · mine · last · track

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. object — a thing
  4. last — to go on
  5. firm — a company
  6. last — final
  7. track — to keep track
  8. firm — steady
  9. last — finally
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. firm — decided
  14. object — to protest
  15. mine — for digging
  16. object — an aim
  17. pitch — completely
  18. wake — a trail
  19. track — a song
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. shower — to wash
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. pitch — a sports field

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