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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: tear · leaves · bore · saw · net · shower · kid · march

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. net — in sport
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — to rip
  7. march — the month
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. net — for catching
  10. shower — to wash
  11. bore — to tire
  12. march — music
  13. kid — to tease
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. saw — the tool
  16. tear — from crying
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bore — to drill
  19. net — after costs
  20. shower — rain
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. march — the month
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. kid — child

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