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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: degree · wound · bear · shower · pound · spring · pit · drill

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. drill — army training
  3. wound — an injury
  4. spring — the season
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. pound — a weight
  7. degree — from a university
  8. pit — a hole
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. wound — an injury
  12. shower — rain
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. drill — the tool
  16. drill — a practice
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. bear — the animal
  19. degree — temperature
  20. degree — an amount
  21. spring — a coil
  22. shower — to wash
  23. pit — in a race
  24. spring — of water

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