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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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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: shower · chip · foot · tear · hand · mug · sharp · wax

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. hand — in cards
  4. sharp — clever
  5. tear — from crying
  6. mug — a face
  7. chip — for betting
  8. foot — a measure
  9. mug — a cup
  10. wax — to grow
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. tear — from crying
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. mug — to rob
  16. hand — help
  17. shower — rain
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. chip — to eat
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. tear — to rip
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. hand — part of the body

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