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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: land · safe · shower · stock · cell · wave · band · kid

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  18. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  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. land — to come down
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. shower — to wash
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. cell — a phone
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. band — a ring
  10. land — a country
  11. stock — goods
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — child
  15. stock — shares
  16. band — a music group
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. safe — a strongbox
  19. shower — rain
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. cell — in biology
  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