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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. bear — the animal
  3. shower — rain
  4. hand — in cards
  5. band — a ring
  6. land — to come down
  7. field — a subject
  8. land — a country
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. bear — the animal
  12. band — a music group
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — farmland
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. tube — a container
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. shower — to wash
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. hand — help
  23. stem — to come from
  24. tube — the underground

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