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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. clip — a video
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. capital — a city
  9. prune — to trim
  10. clip — for paper
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. shower — to wash
  17. prune — to trim
  18. bat — the animal
  19. capital — money
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. clip — to cut
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. prune — the fruit

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