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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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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: shower · capital · dip · perch · club · file · bore · march

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. capital — money
  3. shower — to wash
  4. bore — to drill
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a tool
  7. march — the month
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. bore — to tire
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. march — the month
  12. file — a document
  13. capital — a city
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. march — music
  16. club — a group
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. shower — rain
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. club — for dancing
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. club — for golf
  24. dip — to sink

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