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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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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: root · hide · bark · fall · bass · bowl · tear · shower

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  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. bowl — a dish
  2. fall — to drop
  3. shower — to wash
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. root — of a plant
  10. tear — to rip
  11. fall — to drop
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. fall — the season
  14. root — of a word
  15. root — the cause
  16. bass — the fish
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. bass — low music
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. shower — rain
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. bark — to shout
  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