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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: tear · scale · safe · field · wind · pit · wound · shower

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. tear — from crying
  3. pit — in a race
  4. wind — moving air
  5. scale — in music
  6. shower — rain
  7. wound — an injury
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. scale — size or range
  10. wound — an injury
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — for sport
  14. pit — a hole
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. tear — to rip
  17. shower — to wash
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. field — a subject
  24. tear — from crying

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