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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 116 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: bowl · shower · fan · root · spring · field · band · mug

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. spring — a coil
  3. shower — rain
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. band — a ring
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — for sport
  9. shower — to wash
  10. band — a music group
  11. root — of a word
  12. mug — a cup
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. mug — a face
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. spring — of water
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. root — the cause
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. spring — the season
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. mug — to rob
  24. root — of a plant

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