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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: shower · wound · mine · wave · snap · drill · squash · date

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. shower — to wash
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. squash — to crush
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. snap — to click
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. mine — for digging
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. date — the fruit
  14. squash — the sport
  15. drill — a practice
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. wound — an injury
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. wound — an injury
  21. drill — the tool
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. shower — rain

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