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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: squash · cap · shower · rock · scale · field · hand · net

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. field — a subject
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. net — in sport
  5. rock — music
  6. scale — size or range
  7. cap — a hat
  8. field — for sport
  9. shower — to wash
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. squash — to crush
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. rock — a stone
  14. field — farmland
  15. hand — in cards
  16. scale — in music
  17. net — after costs
  18. hand — help
  19. net — for catching
  20. cap — a lid
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. squash — the sport
  23. cap — of ice
  24. hand — part of the 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