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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: drill · snap · fine · shower · mine · spring · fall · tube

  1. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. tube — the underground
  6. drill — the tool
  7. snap — to click
  8. drill — a practice
  9. shower — rain
  10. fall — to drop
  11. drill — army training
  12. spring — a coil
  13. fall — to drop
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. shower — to wash
  16. fine — all right
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — of water
  20. fine — high quality
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. tube — a container
  23. fall — the season
  24. mine — for digging

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