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

Word bank: tear · chest · pound · craft · clip · shower

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. chest — a box
  3. clip — a video
  4. pound — a weight
  5. craft — boats
  6. shower — to wash
  7. tear — from crying
  8. clip — to cut
  9. tear — to rip
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. shower — rain
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. clip — for paper
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. craft — a skill

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