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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: mine · face · wake · stem · shower · row · wave · bat

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  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. row — a quarrel
  2. shower — rain
  3. mine — for digging
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. stem — to come from
  7. row — to paddle
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. row — a line
  11. face — to confront
  12. face — part of the head
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. bat — the animal
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. face — to point toward
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. wake — a trail
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. shower — to wash
  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