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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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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 · season · band · board · kid · wind · rule · bass

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. bass — the fish
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. shower — to wash
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — moving air
  8. board — to get on
  9. rule — a law
  10. season — of the year
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. kid — child
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. rule — government
  15. kid — to tease
  16. band — a ring
  17. band — a music group
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. shower — rain
  22. board — a committee
  23. bass — low music
  24. bass — the instrument

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