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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: tube · stock · bark · rash · shower · band · bore · row

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. shower — to wash
  3. stock — shares
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. rash — hasty
  6. bore — to tire
  7. shower — rain
  8. tube — a container
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. stock — goods
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. bore — to drill
  14. rash — a series
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. row — a line
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. band — a ring
  20. row — to paddle
  21. band — a music group
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. bark — to shout
  24. rash — on the skin

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