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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: land · wake · shower · saw · mark · prune · bear · kid

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. bear — the animal
  3. land — ground
  4. kid — child
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. land — to come down
  7. mark — a grade
  8. land — a country
  9. saw — the tool
  10. kid — to tease
  11. saw — the tool
  12. prune — to trim
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. wake — a trail
  19. shower — to wash
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. prune — to trim
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. mark — a trace
  24. shower — rain

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