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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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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: present · bowl · tear · track · prune · shower · wind · snap

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. snap — to click
  3. track — to keep track
  4. wind — moving air
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. tear — from crying
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. present — there
  9. shower — rain
  10. shower — to wash
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. track — a path
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. tear — to rip
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. prune — to trim
  18. tear — from crying
  19. present — the time now
  20. present — a gift
  21. prune — to trim
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wind — moving air

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