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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 120 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. cap — a hat
  3. band — a music group
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. cap — a lid
  8. spring — the season
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. snap — to click
  14. cap — of ice
  15. spring — a coil
  16. band — a ring
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. spring — of water
  23. squash — to crush
  24. squash — the sport

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