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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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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 · hand · bowl · wind · pound · stick · lie · drill

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. drill — the tool
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. shower — to wash
  5. shower — rain
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. drill — army training
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. drill — a practice
  15. wind — moving air
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. hand — in cards
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. lie — to recline
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. pound — a weight
  24. hand — help

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