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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: pop · bat · shower · cap · kick · squash · wax · rush

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  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. bat — for baseball
  2. squash — the sport
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. pop — soda
  5. cap — of ice
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. cap — a lid
  9. kick — in football
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. squash — to crush
  13. pop — music
  14. cap — a hat
  15. shower — to wash
  16. pop — to visit
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. bat — the animal
  19. rush — hurry
  20. shower — rain
  21. wax — to grow
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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