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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. key — in music
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. ground — the earth
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. land — ground
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. land — to come down
  11. date — the fruit
  12. file — a line of people
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. file — a tool
  15. shower — to wash
  16. key — for a lock
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. bat — the animal
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. ground — a position
  21. ground — crushed
  22. land — a country
  23. key — the most important part
  24. file — a document

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