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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. shower — to wash
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. current — of water
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. kid — to tease
  10. bass — low music
  11. shower — rain
  12. kid — child
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bass — the fish
  15. current — electric
  16. dip — to sink
  17. tear — from crying
  18. current — happening now

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