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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 · shower · pitch · saw · kid · bound · toast · season

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  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. season — to add flavour
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. saw — the tool
  5. pitch — completely
  6. kid — to tease
  7. season — in sport
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. toast — bread
  11. bound — obliged
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. land — to come down
  14. shower — to wash
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. land — a country
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. saw — the tool
  19. bound — tied together
  20. season — of the year
  21. bound — certain
  22. kid — child
  23. shower — rain
  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