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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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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: fall · shower · bear · tear · drill · snap · rule · last

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. fall — the season
  4. tear — from crying
  5. rule — a law
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. drill — a practice
  9. last — final
  10. last — finally
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. snap — to click
  14. rule — government
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. last — to go on
  17. tear — to rip
  18. fall — to drop
  19. shower — to wash
  20. drill — the tool
  21. bear — the animal
  22. drill — army training
  23. fall — to drop
  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