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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 120 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: game · spell · track · drill · tear · content · wind · bark

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. track — a path
  3. tear — to rip
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. game — wild animals
  6. tear — from crying
  7. track — to keep track
  8. wind — moving air
  9. spell — a short time
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. drill — army training
  12. bark — to shout
  13. drill — a practice
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. spell — letters
  16. spell — magic
  17. content — happy
  18. game — a match
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. wind — moving air
  21. content — the amount
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. track — a song
  24. drill — the tool

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