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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: shower · cell · mark · sharp · tear · roll · saw · season

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. tear — from crying
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. season — in sport
  6. roll — a cake
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. cell — a phone
  9. sharp — clever
  10. shower — to wash
  11. tear — from crying
  12. saw — the tool
  13. season — of the year
  14. cell — in biology
  15. mark — a grade
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. saw — the tool
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. mark — a trace
  22. tear — to rip
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. roll — a list

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