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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 120 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: leaves · land · bank · pop · tear · field · rush · bowl

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. pop — to visit
  3. bank — of a river
  4. land — ground
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. pop — soda
  7. tear — to rip
  8. field — farmland
  9. rush — hurry
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. pop — music
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bank — for money
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. tear — from crying
  17. field — a subject
  18. land — to come down
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. bank — for money
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. land — a country
  23. field — for sport
  24. leaves — to go away

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