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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: shower · row · bark · mine · tear · bore · band · coach

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. bore — to tire
  5. mine — for digging
  6. row — a line
  7. shower — rain
  8. shower — to wash
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. band — a ring
  11. bark — to shout
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. tear — from crying
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. tear — from crying
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. row — to paddle
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. tear — to rip
  23. band — a music group
  24. bore — to drill

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