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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: kid · lean · mine · wax · cell · deal · shower · land

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. mine — for digging
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — to tease
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. lean — to bend
  8. shower — to wash
  9. lean — thin
  10. land — ground
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cell — a phone
  13. land — a country
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. wax — to grow
  16. deal — to handle
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. land — to come down
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. cell — in a prison

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