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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: present · bound · drill · shower · mine · band · chest · bear

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  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. present — a gift
  2. bear — the animal
  3. present — there
  4. shower — to wash
  5. band — a music group
  6. shower — rain
  7. chest — of your body
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bound — tied together
  11. chest — a box
  12. drill — army training
  13. bound — obliged
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. band — a ring
  16. present — the time now
  17. bound — certain
  18. chest — of your body
  19. drill — the tool
  20. drill — a practice
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mine — an explosive
  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