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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 · race · pit · field · date · bear · leaves · land

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  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. shower — a meteor shower
  2. bear — the animal
  3. race — a contest
  4. race — the arms race
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. race — humankind
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. field — farmland
  12. land — ground
  13. pit — a hole
  14. field — a subject
  15. shower — to wash
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. field — for sport
  18. date — the fruit
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. land — a country
  21. bear — the animal
  22. pit — in a race
  23. land — to come down
  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