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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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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: cold · key · toast · bowl · capital · bass · mate · shower

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — not warm
  3. capital — a city
  4. bass — the fish
  5. capital — money
  6. key — the most important part
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. shower — rain
  9. bass — low music
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. shower — to wash
  14. key — in music
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. key — for a lock
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. mate — a partner
  19. toast — bread
  20. mate — a friend
  21. mate — to breed
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. bowl — a football final

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