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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: mine · shower · bore · pound · wind · rush · bass · coach

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. shower — to wash
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. shower — rain
  7. wind — moving air
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. mine — for digging
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bore — to tire
  14. bass — the fish
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. rush — hurry
  21. pound — a weight
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. bore — to drill
  24. rush — a thrill

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