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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: bat · ball · shower · spell · bear · stick · wind · capital

  1. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. wind — moving air
  3. shower — rain
  4. ball — a great time
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. spell — magic
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. shower — to wash
  11. bear — the animal
  12. capital — a city
  13. spell — a short time
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bear — the animal
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bat — the animal
  18. ball — a dance
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. capital — money
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. spell — letters
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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