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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: land · ground · wind · foot · scale · leaves · saw · shower

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wind — moving air
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. foot — a measure
  7. ground — the earth
  8. ground — crushed
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. scale — size or range
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. land — a country
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. land — ground
  16. shower — rain
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. scale — in music
  19. land — to come down
  20. shower — to wash
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. wind — moving air

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