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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. fall — to drop
  3. shower — rain
  4. wound — an injury
  5. fall — the season
  6. tear — from crying
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. shower — to wash
  10. tear — to rip
  11. pop — soda
  12. pop — music
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. fall — to drop
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — the animal
  18. degree — temperature
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. tear — from crying
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — from a university
  23. pop — to visit
  24. cabinet — ministers

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