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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 120 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: shower · bass · wake · fork · face · drill · tear · cap

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. face — part of the head
  3. wake — a trail
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. tear — from crying
  6. shower — rain
  7. bass — the fish
  8. cap — a hat
  9. fork — in a road
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. drill — the tool
  13. cap — of ice
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. tear — from crying
  16. drill — a practice
  17. shower — to wash
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. cap — a lid
  20. face — to confront
  21. drill — army training
  22. tear — to rip
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. bass — low music

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