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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 120 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: bear · shower · wake · season · capital · staff · cell · current

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. season — of the year
  3. capital — money
  4. current — of water
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. shower — to wash
  8. cell — a phone
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. capital — a city
  11. season — in sport
  12. current — happening now
  13. staff — a stick
  14. staff — employees
  15. current — electric
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. staff — employees
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. wake — a trail
  20. cell — in biology
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. bear — the animal
  23. shower — rain
  24. bear — the 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