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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: shower · mine · perch · field · snap · cabinet · roll · calf

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. snap — to click
  6. field — for sport
  7. shower — rain
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. roll — a cake
  11. shower — to wash
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — a subject
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. mine — for digging
  18. perch — the fish
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. roll — a list
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. cabinet — ministers

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