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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 · coach · shower · stand · tear · row · bound · mouse

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. shower — to wash
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. bound — tied together
  6. bound — obliged
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. row — a line
  9. mine — for digging
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. stand — to bear
  14. bound — certain
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. shower — rain
  18. tear — from crying
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. tear — to rip
  22. row — to paddle
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. tear — from crying

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