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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: bass · stem · tear · straw · wound · calf · dip · shower

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. wound — an injury
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. bass — low music
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. dip — to sink
  12. shower — rain
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. stem — to come from
  20. bass — the fish
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. tear — to rip
  24. tear — from crying

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