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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: wound · game · safe · fan · tear · shower · kid · rest

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. game — a match
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. kid — child
  6. kid — to tease
  7. tear — to rip
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. tear — from crying
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. rest — a break
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. rest — what's left
  18. game — wild animals
  19. tear — from crying
  20. wound — an injury
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — to wash
  24. game — a kind of play

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