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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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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: mouse · ruler · tube · kid · spell · shower · tear · cold

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. shower — rain
  4. cold — an illness
  5. shower — to wash
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. tear — to rip
  11. cold — not warm
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tube — the underground
  15. tube — a container
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. spell — a short time
  20. kid — to tease
  21. tear — from crying
  22. spell — magic
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. spell — letters

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