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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: land · shower · rock · ground · roll · wound · current · present

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. present — a gift
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. land — to come down
  5. rock — music
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rock — a stone
  8. wound — an injury
  9. land — a country
  10. ground — crushed
  11. ground — the earth
  12. present — there
  13. current — electric
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. roll — a list
  16. current — happening now
  17. present — the time now
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. shower — rain
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. ground — a position
  22. current — of water
  23. roll — a cake
  24. land — ground

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