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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: straw · rest · cell · mark · shower · tear · cap · mine

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. cap — a hat
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cap — of ice
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cell — in biology
  8. shower — to wash
  9. rest — what's left
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. cell — a phone
  12. tear — from crying
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. mark — a trace
  15. tear — to rip
  16. cap — a lid
  17. mark — a grade
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. rest — a break
  22. mine — for digging
  23. shower — rain
  24. straw — dry grass

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