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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. game — wild animals
  3. shower — to wash
  4. shower — rain
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. tear — to rip
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. game — a match
  12. bark — to shout
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. roll — a cake
  15. wake — a trail
  16. march — the month
  17. roll — a list
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. tear — from crying
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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