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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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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: band · bore · chest · face · kid · shower · bass · firm

  1. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. shower — to wash
  3. kid — child
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. band — a music group
  6. firm — a company
  7. chest — a box
  8. band — a ring
  9. face — to point toward
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. firm — steady
  12. bore — to tire
  13. kid — to tease
  14. firm — decided
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. bass — the fish
  17. face — to confront
  18. shower — rain
  19. chest — of your body
  20. face — part of the head
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. bass — low music
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. chest — of your body

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