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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. date — the fruit
  3. tear — from crying
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. fall — the season
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. fall — to drop
  10. tear — from crying
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. cell — in biology
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — an injury
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. fall — to drop
  17. cell — a phone
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. tear — to rip
  21. wind — moving air
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. wind — moving air
  24. shower — to wash

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