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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. tube — a container
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. tear — from crying
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. tear — to rip
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. dip — to sink
  17. tear — from crying
  18. wound — an injury
  19. kid — child
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. tube — the underground
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. kid — to tease
  24. shower — rain

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