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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 120 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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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: row · drill · cell · shower · chip · dip · bore · bay

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. cell — a phone
  3. drill — a practice
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. chip — for betting
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. dip — to sink
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. shower — rain
  11. shower — to wash
  12. bore — to tire
  13. drill — the tool
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. bore — to drill
  16. chip — to eat
  17. drill — army training
  18. row — a line
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. cell — in biology
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. row — to paddle
  24. cell — in a prison

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