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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 116 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: ball · drill · kid · capital · root · shower

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. root — of a word
  4. drill — the tool
  5. capital — money
  6. kid — child
  7. root — the cause
  8. drill — a practice
  9. shower — rain
  10. capital — a city
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. shower — to wash
  14. drill — army training
  15. ball — a great time
  16. root — of a plant
  17. kid — to tease
  18. ball — a dance

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