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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. fall — to drop
  3. band — a ring
  4. shower — to wash
  5. fall — the season
  6. band — a music group
  7. tear — to rip
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. tear — from crying
  10. dip — to sink
  11. chair — a leader
  12. fall — to drop
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. pound — a weight
  15. land — a country
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. land — ground
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. shower — rain
  23. tear — from crying
  24. land — to come down

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