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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 116 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 · rash · ground · shower · wound · cabinet · hand · pound

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. rash — hasty
  3. rash — a series
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. hand — help
  6. tear — from crying
  7. ground — the earth
  8. wound — an injury
  9. tear — to rip
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — in cards
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. shower — to wash
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. wound — an injury
  19. ground — crushed
  20. ground — a position
  21. tear — from crying
  22. pound — a weight
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. shower — rain

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