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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: spring · shower · mine · bore · tear · chest · game · can

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  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. game — a match
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. spring — the season
  4. chest — a box
  5. shower — to wash
  6. bore — to drill
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. tear — from crying
  9. game — wild animals
  10. spring — of water
  11. can — a tin
  12. spring — a coil
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — of your body
  15. tear — to rip
  16. shower — rain
  17. can — a tin
  18. tear — from crying
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. mine — for digging
  21. bore — to tire
  22. can — to be able to
  23. bore — gave birth
  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