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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 116 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: pitcher · shower · wind · nail · content · face · bore · scale

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. content — the amount
  3. shower — to wash
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. wind — moving air
  7. face — to confront
  8. face — part of the head
  9. face — to point toward
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. scale — size or range
  16. content — happy
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. bore — to drill
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. wind — moving air
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. shower — rain
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — for weighing

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