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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. kid — to tease
  4. tear — to rip
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. date — the fruit
  10. snap — to click
  11. tear — from crying
  12. shower — to wash
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. pound — a weight
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. tear — from crying
  22. shower — rain
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. fan — a supporter

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