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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. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. drill — the tool
  4. drill — army training
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. tear — from crying
  7. shower — rain
  8. last — final
  9. drill — a practice
  10. fork — in a road
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. last — to go on
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. tear — from crying
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. stand — to bear
  19. lie — to recline
  20. last — finally
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. tear — to rip

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