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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 · tear · wind · rest · chest · coach · hand · bore

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. rest — what's left
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. shower — to wash
  7. hand — in cards
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — a box
  10. rest — what's left
  11. bore — to drill
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — to rip
  14. hand — help
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — moving air
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bore — to tire
  22. shower — rain
  23. rest — a break
  24. wind — to turn a key

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