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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. file — a tool
  3. track — a path
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. saw — the tool
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. track — a song
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bore — to tire
  10. file — a line of people
  11. spring — of water
  12. tear — from crying
  13. spring — a coil
  14. track — to keep track
  15. shower — to wash
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. saw — the tool
  18. file — a document
  19. bore — to drill
  20. tear — to rip
  21. spring — the season
  22. shower — rain
  23. rock — music
  24. rock — a stone

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