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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. tear — from crying
  3. mug — a face
  4. cap — a lid
  5. kid — to tease
  6. net — in sport
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. deal — to handle
  10. net — after costs
  11. cap — a hat
  12. pop — music
  13. shower — to wash
  14. net — for catching
  15. tear — to rip
  16. pop — soda
  17. mug — a cup
  18. kid — child
  19. tear — from crying
  20. mug — to rob
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. pop — to visit
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. cap — of ice

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