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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: cap · bat · bowl · date · file · land · shower · mine

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. bat — the animal
  3. land — ground
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. shower — to wash
  9. file — a document
  10. shower — rain
  11. cap — a hat
  12. land — to come down
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. mine — for digging
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. file — a tool
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. date — the fruit
  19. cap — a lid
  20. file — a line of people
  21. land — a country
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bowl — a dish

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