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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 116 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: bear · land · cell · bowl · wave · bat · game · shower

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. shower — rain
  3. bear — the animal
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. game — wild animals
  7. cell — in biology
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. land — to come down
  13. game — a match
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. land — a country
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. land — ground
  22. shower — to wash
  23. cell — a phone
  24. bear — the animal

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