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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: bark · spell · season · shower · squash · ball · snap · chest

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. spell — magic
  3. ball — a dance
  4. chest — a box
  5. spell — letters
  6. season — of the year
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. shower — rain
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. snap — to click
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. bark — to shout
  16. squash — the sport
  17. shower — to wash
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. chest — of your body
  21. season — in sport
  22. ball — a great time
  23. spell — a short time
  24. chest — of your body

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