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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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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: last · board · wake · ground · land · shower · leaves · season

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. last — final
  3. board — a committee
  4. shower — rain
  5. ground — the earth
  6. ground — crushed
  7. last — finally
  8. shower — to wash
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. season — of the year
  11. last — to go on
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. ground — a position
  16. season — in sport
  17. land — ground
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. wake — a trail
  22. board — to get on
  23. land — a country
  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