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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 · roll · bound · bulb · net · club · squash · chest

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. roll — a cake
  3. club — a group
  4. shower — rain
  5. bound — certain
  6. roll — a list
  7. bound — tied together
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. bound — obliged
  10. squash — to crush
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. net — for catching
  13. net — in sport
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. net — after costs
  16. shower — to wash
  17. club — for golf
  18. squash — the sport
  19. chest — of your body
  20. bulb — for light
  21. chest — a box
  22. bulb — for light
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. chest — of your body

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