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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: spell · shower · fan · field · kid · rash · chest · mark

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. chest — of your body
  3. mark — a grade
  4. chest — a box
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. rash — hasty
  7. field — a subject
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. kid — to tease
  10. mark — a trace
  11. rash — a series
  12. kid — child
  13. spell — a short time
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. field — farmland
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. shower — rain
  19. chest — of your body
  20. spell — magic
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. spell — letters
  23. field — for sport
  24. mark — to pay attention

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