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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: mate · current · land · shower · fan · mine · kid · fall

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. fall — to drop
  3. land — to come down
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. mine — for digging
  6. shower — to wash
  7. land — a country
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — child
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. current — of water
  14. fall — to drop
  15. current — electric
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. current — happening now
  18. shower — rain
  19. fall — the season
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. mate — to breed
  22. mate — a friend
  23. land — ground
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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