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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: last · spring · shower · dip · cap · rush · sharp · spell

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. spring — the season
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. cap — of ice
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. last — finally
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. rush — hurry
  12. last — final
  13. dip — to sink
  14. spring — of water
  15. last — to go on
  16. spell — letters
  17. shower — to wash
  18. spell — a short time
  19. spring — a coil
  20. shower — rain
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. cap — a hat
  23. spell — magic
  24. cap — a lid

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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