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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 · land · lie · saw · wind · spell · last · bowl

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  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. land — a country
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. saw — the tool
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. spell — magic
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. shower — rain
  10. last — finally
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. lie — to recline
  14. spell — a short time
  15. saw — the tool
  16. land — to come down
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. last — final
  19. shower — to wash
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. wind — moving air
  22. spell — letters
  23. last — to go on
  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