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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: charge · mine · rest · wave · shower · tear · ground · fall

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. shower — to wash
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. tear — from crying
  7. fall — to drop
  8. rest — a break
  9. fall — the season
  10. ground — the earth
  11. tear — to rip
  12. charge — in control
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. ground — crushed
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. rest — what's left
  17. charge — electricity
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. rest — what's left
  20. shower — rain
  21. tear — from crying
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. ground — a position
  24. charge — a price

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