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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: tear · trunk · face · kid · rash · shower · pitch · wound

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. shower — rain
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. kid — to tease
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rash — hasty
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. kid — child
  11. face — to point toward
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. tear — to rip
  14. pitch — completely
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. rash — a series
  17. face — to confront
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. shower — to wash
  20. face — part of the head
  21. tear — from crying
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  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