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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 · kid · jam · bear · branch · arm · tear · present

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. bear — the animal
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. branch — a division
  6. kid — child
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. present — there
  9. kid — to tease
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. tear — from crying
  14. shower — to wash
  15. shower — rain
  16. present — a gift
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip
  19. bear — the animal
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. present — the time now

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