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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. track — a path
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. mine — for digging
  8. shower — rain
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. cold — not warm
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. cold — an illness
  15. track — to keep track
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. shower — to wash
  19. land — ground
  20. wake — a trail
  21. band — a ring
  22. land — a country
  23. band — a music group
  24. track — a song

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