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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 · ground · shower · can · arm · leaves · cold · drill

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — not warm
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. can — to be able to
  5. cold — an illness
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. can — a tin
  8. shower — to wash
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. ground — crushed
  12. can — a tin
  13. drill — a practice
  14. bore — to drill
  15. shower — rain
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. ground — the earth
  21. ground — a position
  22. drill — army training
  23. drill — the tool
  24. bore — to tire

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