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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: dip · plane · perch · shower · cold · bowl · mine · wake

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. perch — the fish
  4. mine — for digging
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. plane — a tool
  7. shower — rain
  8. cold — not warm
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. cold — an illness
  13. dip — to sink
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — to wash
  23. wake — a trail
  24. perch — for a bird

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