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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: straw · shower · branch · mine · row · wake · track · cap

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. track — a path
  3. shower — rain
  4. cap — a lid
  5. branch — a division
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. cap — of ice
  10. shower — to wash
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. track — to keep track
  18. wake — a trail
  19. cap — a hat
  20. row — to paddle
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. mine — for digging
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. row — a line

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