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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: game · kid · land · leaves · snap · bulb · shower · band

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — child
  4. shower — rain
  5. shower — to wash
  6. band — a music group
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. snap — to click
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. bulb — for light
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. land — a country
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. bulb — for light
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. land — ground
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. game — wild animals
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. land — to come down
  24. game — a match

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