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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: saw · wind · perch · shower · tear · chest · rush · pass

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. perch — the fish
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. chest — a box
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. rush — hurry
  8. pass — a permit
  9. shower — rain
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. saw — the tool
  12. tear — to rip
  13. shower — to wash
  14. chest — of your body
  15. wind — moving air
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. tear — from crying
  21. wind — moving air
  22. chest — of your body
  23. saw — the tool
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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