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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: tear · rock · rush · season · shower · bat · capital · straw

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — from crying
  7. bat — the animal
  8. rush — hurry
  9. rock — music
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. capital — money
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. season — of the year
  14. season — in sport
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. capital — a city
  19. rock — a stone
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — to wash
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. shower — rain
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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