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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: pound · spell · cold · shower · dip · fan · charge · wound

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. charge — in control
  4. wound — an injury
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. shower — to wash
  7. spell — letters
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. dip — to sink
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. pound — a weight
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. spell — magic
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. spell — a short time
  16. wound — an injury
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. charge — electricity
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. shower — rain

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