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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. shower — rain
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. cap — a hat
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — from crying
  9. root — the cause
  10. root — of a plant
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. lean — thin
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. tear — to rip
  16. stock — shares
  17. stock — goods
  18. cap — a lid
  19. kid — child
  20. lean — to bend
  21. root — of a word
  22. kid — to tease
  23. cap — of ice
  24. shower — to wash

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