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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 116 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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. shower — rain
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. shower — to wash
  6. march — the month
  7. can — to be able to
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. pop — music
  10. can — a tin
  11. stem — to come from
  12. row — a line
  13. bat — the animal
  14. pop — to visit
  15. can — a tin
  16. march — music
  17. march — the month
  18. row — to paddle
  19. track — a path
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. track — to keep track
  23. track — a song
  24. pop — soda

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