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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: tube · roll · land · stock · wound · shower · bore · last

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. land — to come down
  3. stock — shares
  4. tube — the underground
  5. shower — to wash
  6. last — to go on
  7. tube — a container
  8. roll — a cake
  9. land — ground
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. wound — an injury
  12. last — finally
  13. shower — rain
  14. land — a country
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. stock — goods
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. wound — an injury
  20. bore — to drill
  21. roll — a list
  22. last — final
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. bore — to tire

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