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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 · tear · racket · mug · track · clip · pitcher · land

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. track — a song
  3. tear — to rip
  4. land — a country
  5. track — a path
  6. shower — rain
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. clip — to cut
  11. tear — from crying
  12. track — to keep track
  13. shower — to wash
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. mug — a face
  17. clip — a video
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. mug — a cup
  21. tear — from crying
  22. land — ground
  23. clip — for paper
  24. mug — to rob

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