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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: racket · shower · pound · chair · date · wind

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. date — the fruit
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. shower — rain
  12. chair — a leader
  13. wind — moving air
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. wind — moving air
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. pound — a weight

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