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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  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. tear — from crying
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. tear — from crying
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. spring — of water
  8. spell — letters
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. bark — to shout
  11. shower — to wash
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. press — to push
  15. shower — rain
  16. press — a publisher
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. spell — a short time
  19. spring — the season
  20. spell — magic
  21. press — newspapers
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. spring — a coil
  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