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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: mine · tear · date · shower · arm · sharp · row · deal

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. tear — from crying
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. shower — to wash
  6. sharp — clever
  7. deal — to handle
  8. date — the fruit
  9. shower — rain
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. row — to paddle
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. mine — for digging
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. row — a line

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