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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: drill · shower · net · hand · face · pound · charge · file

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. face — to confront
  4. pound — a weight
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. drill — a practice
  8. file — a line of people
  9. charge — a price
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. net — after costs
  12. drill — army training
  13. drill — the tool
  14. face — to point toward
  15. charge — electricity
  16. shower — rain
  17. net — in sport
  18. charge — in control
  19. file — a tool
  20. file — a document
  21. net — for catching
  22. hand — in cards
  23. face — part of the head
  24. shower — to wash

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