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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: coach · tube · face · bore · file · shower · chest · wound

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. tube — the underground
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. chest — a box
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. face — to confront
  7. shower — to wash
  8. file — a document
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. chest — of your body
  11. shower — rain
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. file — a tool
  15. chest — of your body
  16. tube — a container
  17. bore — to drill
  18. bore — to tire
  19. file — a line of people
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. face — to point toward
  24. face — part of the head

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