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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 116 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 · kid · bore · lie · squash · spell · game · pop

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. shower — to wash
  4. pop — soda
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. game — wild animals
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. game — a match
  10. spell — letters
  11. pop — to visit
  12. kid — child
  13. squash — to crush
  14. bore — to tire
  15. squash — the sport
  16. spell — a short time
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. shower — rain
  19. kid — to tease
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. lie — to recline
  22. pop — music
  23. bore — to drill
  24. game — a kind of play

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