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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 · hand · fan · trunk · leaves · spring · cabinet · bowl

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. shower — rain
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. hand — in cards
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. spring — the season
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. spring — of water
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. spring — a coil
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. shower — to wash
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. hand — help
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. trunk — of a car

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