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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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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 · wound · rule · shower · chest · bat · row · bound

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. shower — to wash
  4. bat — the animal
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wound — an injury
  7. chest — of your body
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. rule — a law
  10. rule — government
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. bound — obliged
  14. shower — rain
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. row — a line
  17. bound — tied together
  18. bound — certain
  19. chest — a box
  20. chest — of your body
  21. wound — an injury
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — to rip

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