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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  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. shower — to wash
  2. scale — in music
  3. tear — from crying
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. spring — of water
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. tear — from crying
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. spring — the season
  13. saw — the tool
  14. dip — to sink
  15. rule — government
  16. spring — a coil
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. scale — size or range
  20. shower — rain
  21. saw — the tool
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. rule — a law
  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