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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 · spring · cap · cabinet · chest · leaves · march · spell

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. cap — a hat
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. cap — a lid
  6. march — music
  7. spell — letters
  8. spell — magic
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. cap — of ice
  11. spring — a coil
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. chest — of your body
  15. spell — a short time
  16. march — the month
  17. chest — of your body
  18. spring — the season
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. spring — of water
  21. chest — a box
  22. shower — to wash
  23. shower — rain
  24. march — the month

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