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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: lie · plane · shower · toast · cell · tear

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. tear — from crying
  4. plane — a tool
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — in biology
  9. shower — rain
  10. lie — to recline
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. shower — to wash
  13. tear — to rip
  14. toast — bread
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. plane — in geometry

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