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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: plane · squash · capital · wax · season · bowl · shower · bat

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. capital — a city
  6. plane — a tool
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. bat — the animal
  9. capital — money
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wax — to grow
  12. shower — rain
  13. season — of the year
  14. squash — the sport
  15. shower — to wash
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. squash — to crush
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. season — in sport

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