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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: shower · season · straw · sharp · stem · land · plane · arm

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. land — a country
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. shower — to wash
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. season — of the year
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. stem — to come from
  11. plane — a tool
  12. land — to come down
  13. shower — rain
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. season — in sport
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. sharp — clever
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. land — ground
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. sharp — with an edge

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