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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: branch · spring · fall · last · track · file · tear · pitcher

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  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. fall — to drop
  2. spring — a coil
  3. fall — to drop
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. spring — the season
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. branch — a division
  8. track — to keep track
  9. file — a line of people
  10. file — a tool
  11. last — to go on
  12. track — a song
  13. tear — to rip
  14. fall — the season
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. last — final
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. spring — of water
  19. file — a document
  20. tear — from crying
  21. last — finally
  22. tear — from crying
  23. pitcher — a jug
  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