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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 · hand · game · face · wound · lean · racket · shower

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. land — ground
  5. hand — in cards
  6. game — a match
  7. lean — to bend
  8. face — part of the head
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. land — a country
  11. face — to point toward
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. hand — help
  14. wound — an injury
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. lean — thin
  17. shower — to wash
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. face — to confront
  20. shower — rain
  21. land — to come down
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. game — wild animals

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