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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: row · shower · cell · pop · ground · last · mate · march

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. last — finally
  3. mate — a friend
  4. ground — the earth
  5. pop — to visit
  6. shower — rain
  7. mate — to breed
  8. pop — soda
  9. last — to go on
  10. march — music
  11. last — final
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. march — the month
  14. march — the month
  15. ground — a position
  16. shower — to wash
  17. ground — crushed
  18. cell — in biology
  19. pop — music
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. mate — a partner
  22. row — to paddle
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. row — a line

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