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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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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: mate · game · bat · charge · mouse · field · bore · shower

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. field — a subject
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. mate — a partner
  6. game — a match
  7. bore — to tire
  8. game — wild animals
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. field — farmland
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bore — to drill
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. mate — a friend
  16. mate — to breed
  17. charge — in control
  18. shower — to wash
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. charge — a price
  21. shower — rain
  22. charge — electricity
  23. field — for sport
  24. mouse — for a computer

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