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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: charge · mine · rest · wave · shower · tear

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. tear — to rip
  4. charge — electricity
  5. mine — for digging
  6. charge — in control
  7. shower — rain
  8. rest — a break
  9. tear — from crying
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. tear — from crying
  12. rest — what's left
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. rest — what's left
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. charge — a price

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