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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: cabinet · wind · shower · mine · mouse · fall · capital · spell

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. mine — for digging
  4. wind — moving air
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. capital — a city
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. shower — to wash
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. capital — money
  13. spell — letters
  14. spell — magic
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. fall — to drop
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. fall — to drop
  21. shower — rain
  22. spell — a short time
  23. fall — the season
  24. cabinet — ministers

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