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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: tube · bass · cap · bat · fan · shower · mine · bore

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  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. bat — the animal
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. bass — the fish
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. cap — of ice
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. cap — a hat
  15. mine — for digging
  16. bore — to drill
  17. bass — low music
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. bore — to tire
  21. cap — a lid
  22. tube — a container
  23. tube — the underground
  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