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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: shower · saw · track · ball · file · lash · current · wound

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. saw — the tool
  3. shower — to wash
  4. track — a song
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. file — a document
  7. file — a tool
  8. ball — a dance
  9. ball — a great time
  10. wound — an injury
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. track — a path
  13. file — a line of people
  14. current — electric
  15. current — happening now
  16. saw — the tool
  17. current — of water
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. track — to keep track
  20. shower — rain
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. wound — an injury
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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