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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: field · shower · drill · mate · fine · tear · net · band

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. band — a music group
  3. mate — to breed
  4. fine — high quality
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. drill — the tool
  7. net — in sport
  8. mate — a partner
  9. net — after costs
  10. band — a ring
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. shower — rain
  13. fine — all right
  14. tear — to rip
  15. field — farmland
  16. tear — from crying
  17. drill — a practice
  18. tear — from crying
  19. net — for catching
  20. field — a subject
  21. drill — army training
  22. mate — a friend
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. field — for sport

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