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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: tear · cell · wave · club · scale · shower · sharp · bass

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. cell — a phone
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. club — for dancing
  6. shower — rain
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. club — a group
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. sharp — clever
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. tear — from crying
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. bass — the fish
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. scale — in music
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cell — in biology
  20. scale — size or range
  21. shower — to wash
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. bass — low music
  24. tear — to rip

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