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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: tear · pitcher · band · spell · rock · rash · fall · shower

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. shower — rain
  3. spell — magic
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. spell — a short time
  8. fall — to drop
  9. rock — music
  10. tear — to rip
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. tear — from crying
  14. spell — letters
  15. fall — to drop
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. band — a ring
  19. tear — from crying
  20. rock — a stone
  21. fall — the season
  22. rash — a series
  23. rash — hasty
  24. band — a music group

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