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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: drill · shower · game · wave · mate · cap · wound · bound

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. game — a match
  3. bound — tied together
  4. cap — of ice
  5. shower — rain
  6. cap — a hat
  7. mate — to breed
  8. mate — a partner
  9. drill — a practice
  10. cap — a lid
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. shower — to wash
  14. mate — a friend
  15. game — wild animals
  16. bound — certain
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. drill — army training
  24. bound — obliged

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