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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: mark · shower · cap · file · tear · land · coach · band

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. band — a music group
  3. file — a line of people
  4. shower — to wash
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. mark — a grade
  7. tear — to rip
  8. land — a country
  9. file — a tool
  10. land — to come down
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. band — a ring
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. cap — a hat
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. tear — from crying
  17. mark — a trace
  18. shower — rain
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. cap — a lid
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. cap — of ice
  23. file — a document
  24. land — ground

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