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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 120 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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. land — to come down
  3. row — a line
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. shower — to wash
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. wound — an injury
  12. land — a country
  13. bat — the animal
  14. wax — to grow
  15. row — to paddle
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. bank — of a river
  19. bank — for money
  20. shower — rain
  21. land — ground
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. bank — for money

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