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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 116 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 · mate · land · stock · lash · shower · last · fall

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. last — final
  3. mate — a friend
  4. fall — the season
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. stock — goods
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. land — ground
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. fall — to drop
  11. last — finally
  12. shower — to wash
  13. fall — to drop
  14. land — to come down
  15. mate — a partner
  16. bore — to tire
  17. stock — shares
  18. last — to go on
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. bore — to drill
  21. mate — to breed
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. land — a country

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