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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: wound · bulb · spell · shower · hide · net · row · rest

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. shower — rain
  3. bulb — for light
  4. row — a line
  5. net — after costs
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. rest — what's left
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. wound — an injury
  10. net — for catching
  11. rest — a break
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. shower — to wash
  15. spell — letters
  16. net — in sport
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. spell — a short time
  19. wound — an injury
  20. rest — what's left
  21. row — to paddle
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. spell — magic

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