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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: tear · bat · shower · saw · rush · leaves · clip · bark

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. clip — for paper
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. tear — from crying
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. bark — to shout
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. shower — to wash
  12. saw — the tool
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. rush — hurry
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. clip — to cut
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. tear — to rip
  23. shower — rain
  24. leaves — to go away

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