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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: ground · trunk · pop · capital · drill · shower · spell · lash

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. pop — to visit
  3. ground — a position
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. drill — army training
  6. spell — a short time
  7. capital — money
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. ground — the earth
  11. pop — music
  12. shower — to wash
  13. spell — letters
  14. capital — a city
  15. ground — crushed
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. drill — a practice
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. pop — soda
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. spell — magic
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. shower — rain
  24. drill — the tool

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