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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: mate · clip · hide · shower · tear · drill

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. clip — to cut
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — from crying
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. drill — the tool
  7. drill — army training
  8. clip — a video
  9. drill — a practice
  10. mate — to breed
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. shower — rain
  14. mate — a partner
  15. shower — to wash
  16. clip — for paper
  17. tear — to rip
  18. mate — a friend

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