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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 120 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: band · field · bore · hide · shower · content · bark · drill

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. field — a subject
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. drill — the tool
  5. drill — a practice
  6. shower — to wash
  7. content — happy
  8. band — a music group
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. field — for sport
  15. bark — to shout
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a ring
  18. bore — to drill
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. bore — to tire
  21. shower — rain
  22. field — farmland
  23. drill — army training
  24. content — the amount

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