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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: fall · bass · toast · capital · season · kid · shower · ruler

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

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

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