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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: row · kid · bark · shower · march · ground · leaves · toast

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. row — a line
  5. ground — a position
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. ground — crushed
  9. shower — to wash
  10. toast — bread
  11. row — to paddle
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. kid — to tease
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. march — music
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. shower — rain
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — child
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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