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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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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. kid — to tease
  3. shower — rain
  4. deal — to handle
  5. club — for dancing
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cap — of ice
  8. march — the month
  9. march — the month
  10. tear — from crying
  11. club — for golf
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. tear — to rip
  15. march — music
  16. cap — a hat
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. club — a group
  20. kid — child
  21. cap — a lid
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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