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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: tear · shower · spring · trunk · scale · object · game · capital

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. spring — a coil
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. scale — size or range
  5. object — a thing
  6. shower — to wash
  7. tear — from crying
  8. game — a match
  9. object — an aim
  10. shower — rain
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. spring — the season
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. tear — to rip
  15. scale — in music
  16. capital — money
  17. object — to protest
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. spring — of water
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. capital — a city
  24. game — wild animals

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