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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: fine · land · shower · season · mine · hand · wound · stand

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. fine — all right
  3. mine — for digging
  4. hand — help
  5. season — in sport
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. fine — high quality
  8. land — to come down
  9. wound — an injury
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. season — of the year
  12. land — a country
  13. hand — in cards
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. wound — an injury
  17. stand — to bear
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. shower — to wash
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. land — ground

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