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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: shower · wake · staff · mine · ground · fine · plane · bat

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. fine — all right
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. ground — the earth
  7. wake — a trail
  8. mine — for digging
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. ground — a position
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. shower — rain
  13. ground — crushed
  14. fine — high quality
  15. shower — to wash
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. staff — employees
  18. plane — a tool
  19. staff — a stick
  20. staff — employees
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. bat — in an idiom

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