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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: chest · cabinet · tear · wind · wave · shower

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. chest — a box
  6. shower — rain
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. wind — moving air
  11. chest — of your body
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. shower — to wash
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wind — moving air
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. shower — a meteor shower

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