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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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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: mine · shower · chest · racket · tear · content · vault · bore

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. chest — of your body
  3. bore — to drill
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. content — happy
  7. vault — a safe
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — a box
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. bore — to tire
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. shower — rain
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. content — the amount
  20. shower — to wash
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. tear — to rip
  24. mine — belonging to me

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