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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 124 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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  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. rush — to hurry
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. toast — bread
  4. prune — to trim
  5. tear — from crying
  6. shower — rain
  7. prune — to trim
  8. drill — the tool
  9. shower — to wash
  10. tear — from crying
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. drill — army training
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. rush — hurry
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wax — to grow
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. wound — an injury
  23. drill — a practice
  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