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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 · ruler · shower · row · wound · land · can · cold

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. spell — a short time
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. shower — rain
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. cold — an illness
  7. land — to come down
  8. spell — letters
  9. can — a tin
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. land — ground
  12. row — to paddle
  13. wound — an injury
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. can — a tin
  16. spell — magic
  17. row — a line
  18. cold — not warm
  19. shower — to wash
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. land — a country
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. wound — an injury

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