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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
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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 · pop · spring · squash · ball · can · wax

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. shower — rain
  5. spring — the season
  6. wax — to grow
  7. shower — to wash
  8. spring — a coil
  9. squash — to crush
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. can — a tin
  13. capital — money
  14. ball — a great time
  15. can — a tin
  16. pop — music
  17. ball — a dance
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. spring — of water
  20. capital — a city
  21. pop — to visit
  22. squash — the sport
  23. pop — soda
  24. shower — a meteor shower

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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