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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: coach · kid · toast · drill · bulb · land · wound · shower

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  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. land — to come down
  3. bulb — for light
  4. kid — child
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. land — ground
  8. kid — to tease
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. land — a country
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. drill — army training
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. drill — a practice
  18. toast — bread
  19. bulb — for light
  20. drill — the tool
  21. shower — to wash
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. shower — rain
  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