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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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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: root · mark · tear · capital · mine · shower

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. shower — to wash
  3. tear — from crying
  4. root — the cause
  5. capital — money
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. tear — to rip
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mark — a trace
  11. mine — for digging
  12. mark — a grade
  13. capital — a city
  14. shower — rain
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. root — of a plant
  17. root — of a word
  18. capital — a big letter

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