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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: perch · bat · shower · club · capital · prune · content · fan

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. club — for dancing
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. capital — money
  5. content — happy
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. shower — rain
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. club — for golf
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. prune — to trim
  12. club — a group
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. capital — a city
  19. shower — to wash
  20. bat — the animal
  21. prune — to trim
  22. perch — the fish
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. content — the amount

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