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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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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: wake · shower · vault · toast · bowl · race · capital · saw

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. saw — the tool
  4. toast — bread
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. shower — rain
  7. wake — a trail
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. vault — a safe
  10. shower — to wash
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. capital — a city
  15. saw — the tool
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. race — humankind
  20. race — the arms race
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. race — a contest
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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