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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 · coach · season · capital · bass · spring · kid · toast

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. spring — a coil
  3. kid — child
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. spring — the season
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. shower — rain
  8. season — in sport
  9. kid — to tease
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. season — of the year
  14. shower — to wash
  15. bass — the fish
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. spring — of water
  18. toast — bread
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. bass — low music
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. capital — money
  24. capital — a city

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