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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: shower · vault · field · wound · wave · bear · tear · current

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — from crying
  4. vault — a safe
  5. field — farmland
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. field — a subject
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. tear — to rip
  14. bear — the animal
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. current — electric
  17. shower — to wash
  18. bear — the animal
  19. current — happening now
  20. shower — rain
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. current — of water
  24. wound — an injury

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