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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: shower · spell · race · wave · tear · bound · cold · press

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. race — the arms race
  3. press — a publisher
  4. race — humankind
  5. tear — from crying
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. spell — letters
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. shower — to wash
  10. race — a contest
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bound — certain
  13. shower — rain
  14. cold — an illness
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. spell — a short time
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bound — obliged
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. press — newspapers
  22. press — to push
  23. spell — magic
  24. tear — to rip

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