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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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Word bank
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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: mouse · content · rest · wind · tear · shower

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. tear — to rip
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — moving air
  5. rest — what's left
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. tear — from crying
  8. rest — what's left
  9. rest — a break
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. content — happy
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. shower — to wash
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. shower — rain
  17. tear — from crying
  18. content — videos and posts

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