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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 120 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: shower · squash · perch · saw · capital · pitcher · kick · club

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. capital — a city
  5. club — a group
  6. capital — money
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. club — for dancing
  15. squash — the sport
  16. shower — to wash
  17. saw — the tool
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. perch — the fish
  20. saw — the tool
  21. shower — rain
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. club — for golf
  24. kick — in football

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