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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 120 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: fall · chair · dip · charge · saw · shower · band · tear

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. band — a ring
  3. tear — from crying
  4. fall — to drop
  5. shower — to wash
  6. fall — to drop
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. charge — electricity
  10. saw — the tool
  11. fall — the season
  12. shower — rain
  13. chair — a leader
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. saw — the tool
  16. charge — in control
  17. tear — to rip
  18. band — a music group
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. tear — from crying
  21. dip — to sink
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. chair — to sit on

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