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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: tube · fall · field · shower · land · mate · kid · can

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. field — a subject
  3. shower — to wash
  4. land — to come down
  5. shower — rain
  6. mate — a friend
  7. mate — a partner
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. can — a tin
  10. field — for sport
  11. land — ground
  12. tube — the underground
  13. field — farmland
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — to drop
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. fall — the season
  18. tube — a container
  19. kid — child
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. can — a tin
  22. kid — to tease
  23. can — to be able to
  24. mate — to breed

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