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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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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 · branch · wave · straw · field · track · roll · snap

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. tear — from crying
  4. roll — a cake
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. field — for sport
  8. tear — to rip
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. snap — to click
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. track — a path
  14. branch — a division
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — farmland
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. tear — from crying
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. track — to keep track
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. roll — a list
  24. branch — of a bank

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