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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: bore · bass · stick · saw · shower · chest · wind · wound

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. saw — the tool
  5. saw — the tool
  6. chest — a box
  7. bass — low music
  8. bass — the fish
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. bore — to tire
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — of your body
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wind — moving air
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. shower — rain
  19. shower — to wash
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. bore — to drill
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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