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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: shower · bat · stand · land · plane · craft · tear · date

  1. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. stand — to bear
  3. tear — from crying
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. land — ground
  6. bat — the animal
  7. shower — rain
  8. land — a country
  9. land — to come down
  10. craft — boats
  11. plane — a tool
  12. tear — from crying
  13. date — the fruit
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. craft — a skill
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. tear — to rip
  23. shower — to wash
  24. craft — a handicraft

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