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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: bat · tear · bear · spell · shower · row · drill · ball

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. tear — from crying
  3. spell — letters
  4. drill — a practice
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. bear — the animal
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. drill — the tool
  9. spell — a short time
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. shower — rain
  13. spell — magic
  14. bat — the animal
  15. row — a line
  16. bear — the animal
  17. drill — army training
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. shower — to wash
  22. row — to paddle
  23. ball — a dance
  24. ball — a great time

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