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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: game · pop · hide · fan · wind · snap · toast · shower

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. game — a match
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. pop — to visit
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. pop — music
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. toast — bread
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. wind — moving air
  15. game — wild animals
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. wind — moving air
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. pop — soda
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. snap — to click
  23. shower — rain
  24. toast — the most admired

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