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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. land — to come down
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. tear — from crying
  6. face — part of the head
  7. chair — a leader
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. shower — to wash
  10. pound — a weight
  11. snap — to click
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. shower — rain
  14. face — to point toward
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. land — ground
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. tear — from crying
  21. face — to confront
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. land — a country

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