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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 · squash · band · wake · land · cabinet · bowl · rush

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. rush — hurry
  4. land — ground
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. band — a music group
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. land — a country
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. shower — rain
  18. squash — the sport
  19. band — a ring
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. wake — a trail
  22. shower — to wash
  23. squash — to crush
  24. squash — the vegetable

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