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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. shower — rain
  3. bear — the animal
  4. cold — an illness
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. bound — certain
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. bound — tied together
  9. tear — to rip
  10. rest — a break
  11. rest — what's left
  12. bound — obliged
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. tear — from crying
  15. shower — to wash
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. rest — what's left
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. cold — not warm
  22. can — a tin
  23. can — to be able to
  24. bear — the animal

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