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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: degree · track · bore · tear · spring · lie · shower · file

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. file — a document
  3. degree — an amount
  4. tear — to rip
  5. bore — to drill
  6. degree — from a university
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. degree — temperature
  9. track — to keep track
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bore — to tire
  12. track — a path
  13. spring — of water
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. spring — a coil
  17. file — a line of people
  18. track — a song
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. lie — to recline
  21. file — a tool
  22. tear — from crying
  23. spring — the season
  24. shower — rain

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