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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.

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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: bass · rock · content · pitcher · tear · land · staff · shower

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — to come down
  3. staff — employees
  4. rock — music
  5. tear — to rip
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. shower — rain
  8. content — the amount
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. rock — a stone
  11. tear — from crying
  12. land — a country
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. staff — employees
  15. content — happy
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. bass — low music
  18. shower — to wash
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. tear — from crying
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. staff — a stick
  23. bass — the fish
  24. content — videos and posts

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