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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: shower · hand · arm · game · sharp · bowl · bore · rest

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. rest — what's left
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. shower — to wash
  6. game — wild animals
  7. sharp — clever
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. hand — in cards
  10. shower — rain
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. game — a match
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. rest — what's left
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. bore — to drill
  20. rest — a break
  21. bore — to tire
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. hand — help

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