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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: bore · sharp · game · shower · tube · fall · rash · drill

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. shower — to wash
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. tube — a container
  5. tube — the underground
  6. drill — a practice
  7. game — wild animals
  8. bore — to drill
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. drill — the tool
  11. bore — to tire
  12. fall — to drop
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. sharp — clever
  15. rash — a series
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. fall — to drop
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. fall — the season
  20. game — a match
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. drill — army training
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. shower — rain

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