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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 120 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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. shower — rain
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. branch — a division
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. present — a gift
  7. season — in sport
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. season — of the year
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. rash — a series
  14. present — there
  15. tear — to rip
  16. cold — not warm
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. rash — hasty
  19. present — the time now
  20. shower — to wash
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. cold — an illness
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. tear — from crying

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