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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: bowl · wake · shower · capital · ruler · cold

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. capital — a city
  3. cold — not warm
  4. shower — to wash
  5. wake — a trail
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. cold — an illness
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. shower — rain
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. capital — money

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