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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 · calf · bowl · land · trunk · pit · capital · toast

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. capital — a city
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. land — to come down
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. land — ground
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. shower — to wash
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. land — a country
  14. pit — in a race
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. pit — a hole
  20. shower — rain
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. toast — bread
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. calf — a young animal

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