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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: drill · charge · shower · mouse · band · plane · roll · wake

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. roll — a cake
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. drill — a practice
  7. shower — rain
  8. charge — in control
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. band — a music group
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. band — a ring
  13. charge — electricity
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. wake — a trail
  16. roll — a list
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. charge — a price
  19. drill — the tool
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. drill — army training
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. plane — a tool
  24. band — a rubber band

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