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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: scale · mine · last · straw · prune · track · shower · wake

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. shower — to wash
  3. track — a song
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. wake — a trail
  7. prune — to trim
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. scale — in music
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. mine — for digging
  12. scale — size or range
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. last — finally
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. shower — rain
  20. last — final
  21. last — to go on
  22. track — to keep track
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. prune — to trim

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