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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: board · land · straw · fan · stand · shower · march · ball

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. stand — to bear
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. march — the month
  6. land — ground
  7. land — to come down
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. march — the month
  12. ball — a great time
  13. shower — rain
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. board — to get on
  19. board — a committee
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. ball — a dance
  22. march — music
  23. land — a country
  24. stand — on your feet

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