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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: spring · root · cap · band · file · land · shower · season

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — in sport
  3. cap — of ice
  4. root — of a word
  5. band — a music group
  6. file — a line of people
  7. shower — rain
  8. cap — a hat
  9. root — the cause
  10. cap — a lid
  11. spring — a coil
  12. land — a country
  13. file — a tool
  14. file — a document
  15. root — of a plant
  16. spring — of water
  17. land — ground
  18. band — a ring
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. season — of the year
  22. spring — the season
  23. shower — to wash
  24. land — to come down

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