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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: rest · cold · net · shower · mate · bore · charge · pitcher

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. charge — electricity
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. mate — to breed
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. rest — a break
  7. net — in sport
  8. mate — a friend
  9. mate — a partner
  10. shower — rain
  11. rest — what's left
  12. shower — to wash
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. cold — an illness
  15. net — for catching
  16. bore — to drill
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. rest — what's left
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. charge — a price
  22. net — after costs
  23. charge — in control
  24. cold — not warm

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