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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: snap · deal · tear · shower · fall · clip · row · object

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. tear — from crying
  3. deal — to handle
  4. object — an aim
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. fall — to drop
  7. row — to paddle
  8. shower — rain
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — to cut
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. fall — to drop
  14. object — to protest
  15. fall — the season
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. clip — a video
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. shower — to wash
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. snap — to click
  22. tear — to rip
  23. object — a thing
  24. tear — from crying

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