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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: can · band · trunk · season · cap · shower · row · kid

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. shower — to wash
  3. can — a tin
  4. band — a music group
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. kid — to tease
  7. cap — a hat
  8. kid — child
  9. season — in sport
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. shower — rain
  14. row — a line
  15. season — of the year
  16. cap — a lid
  17. row — to paddle
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. can — to be able to
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. can — a tin
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. cap — of ice
  24. row — a quarrel

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