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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: board · capital · bank · bound · row · land · spell · shower

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  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. board — a committee
  2. bank — for money
  3. bound — certain
  4. bank — of a river
  5. spell — letters
  6. bank — for money
  7. row — a line
  8. capital — a city
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. row — to paddle
  11. land — ground
  12. shower — to wash
  13. board — to get on
  14. spell — magic
  15. spell — a short time
  16. land — to come down
  17. shower — rain
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. capital — money
  20. land — a country
  21. bound — obliged
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. bound — tied together
  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