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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 116 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: mine · shower · lash · field · last · drill · charge · wake

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. mine — for digging
  3. charge — in control
  4. wake — a trail
  5. drill — the tool
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. field — farmland
  8. shower — rain
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. last — to go on
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. charge — a price
  13. drill — army training
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. field — for sport
  17. last — final
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. last — finally
  20. drill — a practice
  21. field — a subject
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. shower — to wash
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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