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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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Word bank
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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 · stock · rule · shower · date · firm · rash · kid

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — from crying
  3. shower — to wash
  4. tear — to rip
  5. firm — decided
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. rash — hasty
  8. kid — to tease
  9. stock — goods
  10. date — the fruit
  11. rash — a series
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. rule — government
  14. stock — shares
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. firm — a company
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. firm — steady
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. kid — child
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. rule — a law
  24. shower — rain

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