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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: cell · scale · wind · tear · shower · bowl · stock · wake

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. tear — to rip
  3. scale — size or range
  4. tear — from crying
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. scale — in music
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. stock — shares
  13. cell — in biology
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. shower — to wash
  16. wake — a trail
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. cell — a phone
  19. wind — moving air
  20. stock — goods
  21. tear — from crying
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. shower — rain

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