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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: pound · snap · shower · kid · stick · pop · tear · rash

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. rash — hasty
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. rash — a series
  6. pound — a weight
  7. tear — to rip
  8. snap — to click
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. tear — from crying
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. kid — to tease
  15. shower — rain
  16. kid — child
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. pop — soda
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. pop — to visit
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. pop — music
  24. shower — to wash

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