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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bat · shower · nail · wake · chest · land

  1. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. shower — rain
  3. land — to come down
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. chest — a box
  6. wake — a trail
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. chest — of your body
  9. land — a country
  10. chest — of your body
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. shower — to wash
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. land — ground
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bat — the animal

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