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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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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: capital · spring · pound · shower · net · face

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. net — for catching
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. face — part of the head
  5. face — to point toward
  6. capital — money
  7. net — in sport
  8. face — to confront
  9. capital — a city
  10. spring — a coil
  11. pound — a weight
  12. spring — of water
  13. shower — rain
  14. spring — the season
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. net — after costs
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. shower — to wash

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