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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 116 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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. row — to paddle
  4. tear — from crying
  5. club — for golf
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. mine — for digging
  9. scale — size or range
  10. club — for dancing
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. tear — to rip
  13. shower — rain
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. club — a group
  16. bark — to shout
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. scale — in music
  19. row — a line
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. tear — from crying
  24. mine — an explosive

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