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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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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: shower · band · wind · row · root · bound · wake · fine

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. fine — high quality
  4. shower — to wash
  5. bound — obliged
  6. bound — certain
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. root — of a plant
  10. root — of a word
  11. wind — moving air
  12. fine — all right
  13. wake — a trail
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. row — a line
  16. row — to paddle
  17. shower — rain
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. band — a ring
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bound — tied together
  23. root — the cause
  24. wind — to turn a key

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