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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 116 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: mine · stem · track · shower · cap · rash · face · leaves

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. track — a path
  3. shower — rain
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. cap — a hat
  6. face — to point toward
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. shower — to wash
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. rash — hasty
  11. face — to confront
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. stem — to come from
  14. mine — for digging
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. cap — a lid
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. face — part of the head
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. rash — a series
  23. cap — of ice
  24. track — a song

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