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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: kid · shower · row · wind · tear · bank

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. tear — from crying
  3. row — a line
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. wind — moving air
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. shower — to wash
  9. tear — from crying
  10. kid — to tease
  11. row — to paddle
  12. wind — moving air
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. bank — for money
  15. bank — for money
  16. kid — child
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. bank — of a river

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