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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: jam · march · ball · drill · bat · shower · land · hide

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. jam — in traffic
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. land — ground
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. march — the month
  7. march — the month
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. shower — to wash
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. ball — a dance
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. march — music
  15. drill — the tool
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. ball — a great time
  18. shower — rain
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — the animal
  21. drill — a practice
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. drill — army training
  24. land — to come down

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