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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: shower · capital · row · cell · deal · face

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. shower — rain
  3. shower — to wash
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. face — to confront
  6. face — part of the head
  7. capital — money
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. face — to point toward
  10. capital — a city
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. cell — in biology
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. row — a line
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. cell — a phone
  18. deal — to handle

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