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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: club · shower · sharp · hand · land · object · season · foot

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. season — in sport
  3. shower — rain
  4. land — to come down
  5. hand — help
  6. object — to protest
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. land — a country
  9. object — a thing
  10. club — for dancing
  11. season — of the year
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. object — an aim
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. foot — a measure
  18. hand — in cards
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. land — ground
  21. shower — to wash
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. club — a group
  24. sharp — clever

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