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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 116 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: chair · shower · band · present · deal · tear

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. present — a gift
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. tear — from crying
  5. shower — rain
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. chair — a leader
  10. band — a ring
  11. deal — to handle
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. tear — from crying
  14. band — a music group
  15. present — there
  16. shower — to wash
  17. present — the time now
  18. tear — to rip

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