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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. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  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. lie — an untruth
  2. kid — to tease
  3. hand — help
  4. land — to come down
  5. tube — a container
  6. tear — from crying
  7. shower — rain
  8. hand — in cards
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. shower — to wash
  12. tube — the underground
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. prune — to trim
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. land — a country
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. land — ground
  20. tear — from crying
  21. prune — to trim
  22. kid — child
  23. lie — to recline
  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