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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: pound · drill · plane · current · bear · net · shower · wound

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. drill — the tool
  3. shower — rain
  4. shower — to wash
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. current — happening now
  7. current — electric
  8. net — for catching
  9. drill — a practice
  10. bear — the animal
  11. pound — a weight
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. net — in sport
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. current — of water
  18. plane — a tool
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. bear — the animal
  21. drill — army training
  22. net — after costs
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. pound — to hit hard

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