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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: bass · tear · shower · kid · plane · racket · drill · perch

  1. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. shower — to wash
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. tear — from crying
  5. drill — the tool
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. kid — to tease
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. kid — child
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. bass — low music
  12. drill — a practice
  13. perch — the fish
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. drill — army training
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. plane — a tool
  19. shower — rain
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bass — the fish
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. tear — to rip
  24. perch — for a bird

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