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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: temple · stick · row · shower · cabinet · land · clip · spell

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. land — a country
  3. land — ground
  4. spell — magic
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. row — to paddle
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. shower — to wash
  10. clip — to cut
  11. row — a line
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. clip — for paper
  15. land — to come down
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. clip — a video
  19. shower — rain
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. spell — a short time
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. spell — letters

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