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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 116 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: pit · bark · shower · deal · band · land · perch · saw

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. land — ground
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. pit — a hole
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. bark — to shout
  7. band — a ring
  8. saw — the tool
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. perch — the fish
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. shower — rain
  13. pit — in a race
  14. shower — to wash
  15. saw — the tool
  16. band — a music group
  17. land — a country
  18. deal — to handle
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. band — a rubber band

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