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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: bore · bat · content · shower · file · band · pop · rush

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  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. content — happy
  2. pop — soda
  3. content — the amount
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. file — a line of people
  6. rush — hurry
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. bore — to drill
  11. band — a music group
  12. shower — rain
  13. bore — to tire
  14. pop — music
  15. bat — the animal
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. file — a tool
  18. band — a ring
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. pop — to visit
  21. file — a document
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bore — gave birth
  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