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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. shower — rain
  3. shower — to wash
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. land — ground
  6. season — of the year
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. band — a music group
  10. land — a country
  11. band — a ring
  12. row — a line
  13. cap — a lid
  14. season — in sport
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. row — to paddle
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. cap — of ice
  19. cap — a hat
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. land — to come down
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. patient — a sick person

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