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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cold · capital · spell · kick · rock · chest · can · shower

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. rock — music
  3. rock — a stone
  4. cold — an illness
  5. shower — to wash
  6. cold — not warm
  7. spell — magic
  8. chest — a box
  9. chest — of your body
  10. shower — rain
  11. spell — letters
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. kick — in football
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. capital — a city
  16. capital — money
  17. can — a tin
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. chest — of your body
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. can — a tin
  23. can — to be able to
  24. spell — a short time

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