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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: hand · chest · bowl · shower · kid · bulb · branch · squash

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. chest — a box
  4. kid — child
  5. bulb — for light
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. hand — help
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. shower — to wash
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. chest — of your body
  13. squash — to crush
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. squash — the sport
  16. branch — a division
  17. hand — in cards
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. bulb — for light
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. kid — to tease
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. shower — rain
  24. chest — of your body

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