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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: fan · coach · cell · pop · bowl · spring · row · shower

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. pop — to visit
  3. shower — to wash
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. pop — music
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. pop — soda
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. shower — rain
  16. row — a line
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. spring — a coil
  20. spring — of water
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. row — to paddle
  23. spring — the season
  24. cell — in biology

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