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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: track · shower · wound · content · branch · row · mark · racket

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wound — an injury
  4. branch — a division
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. mark — a grade
  8. track — to keep track
  9. mark — a trace
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. content — the amount
  12. wound — an injury
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. track — a path
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. row — a line
  18. row — to paddle
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. shower — rain
  22. track — a song
  23. content — happy
  24. racket — for tennis

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