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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: lash · file · shower · land · cold · bore · wound · racket

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. cold — not warm
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. file — a document
  7. shower — to wash
  8. file — a tool
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. wound — an injury
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. bore — to tire
  14. wound — an injury
  15. land — a country
  16. file — a line of people
  17. cold — an illness
  18. land — ground
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. land — to come down
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. shower — rain
  24. bore — to drill

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