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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: shower · clip · file · capital · row · toast · coach · cue

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. row — a line
  3. clip — to cut
  4. file — a line of people
  5. cue — a hint
  6. cue — for pool
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. file — a tool
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. shower — to wash
  12. cue — a signal
  13. capital — money
  14. clip — a video
  15. shower — rain
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. clip — for paper
  18. toast — bread
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. file — a document
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. row — to paddle
  23. capital — a city
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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