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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: spell · cold · shower · content · wave · fan · present · deal

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. shower — to wash
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. content — the amount
  6. present — a gift
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. content — happy
  10. present — there
  11. spell — magic
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. shower — rain
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. spell — letters
  20. present — the time now
  21. deal — to handle
  22. spell — a short time
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — an illness

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