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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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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 · bowl · stand · kick · bulb · shower · ground · present

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. shower — to wash
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. ground — the earth
  6. present — there
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. present — the time now
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. bulb — for light
  11. bulb — for light
  12. present — a gift
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. ground — crushed
  15. stand — to bear
  16. kick — in football
  17. tear — to rip
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. shower — rain
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — from crying
  22. ground — a position
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. stand — on your feet

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