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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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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 · vault · last · pop · safe · tear · kid · bore

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. kid — to tease
  3. shower — to wash
  4. last — finally
  5. bore — to drill
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. tear — to rip
  8. kid — child
  9. tear — from crying
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. safe — a strongbox
  14. last — final
  15. pop — music
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. pop — soda
  18. pop — to visit
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. vault — a safe
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. shower — rain
  23. tear — from crying
  24. last — to go on

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