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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: cap · pound · tear · row · mate · lash · rush · track

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. pound — a weight
  6. track — a path
  7. cap — of ice
  8. tear — from crying
  9. mate — a partner
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. cap — a lid
  12. mate — to breed
  13. mate — a friend
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. row — a line
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. track — a song
  21. track — to keep track
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. row — to paddle
  24. cap — a hat

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