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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 120 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: nail · shower · chest · leaves · band · ground · march · can

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. chest — of your body
  3. shower — to wash
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. can — a tin
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. march — the month
  9. march — the month
  10. chest — a box
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. can — a tin
  13. march — music
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. band — a ring
  16. can — to be able to
  17. ground — the earth
  18. chest — of your body
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. ground — crushed
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. ground — a position
  24. shower — rain

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