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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 120 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: chest · shower · land · mate · ball · fine · net · bear

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. shower — to wash
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. land — ground
  6. ball — a dance
  7. net — in sport
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. mate — to breed
  10. fine — high quality
  11. fine — all right
  12. bear — the animal
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — of your body
  15. ball — a great time
  16. shower — rain
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. land — to come down
  19. chest — a box
  20. mate — a partner
  21. land — a country
  22. net — after costs
  23. net — for catching
  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