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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. season — of the year
  3. land — ground
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. pop — to visit
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. last — final
  9. season — in sport
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. band — a ring
  12. last — finally
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. pop — soda
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. game — a match
  17. pop — music
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. game — wild animals
  20. band — a music group
  21. land — to come down
  22. shower — to wash
  23. land — a country
  24. last — to go on

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