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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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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: shower · bank · dip · plane · capital · land · wound · board

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. board — a committee
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. wound — an injury
  6. plane — a tool
  7. bank — for money
  8. land — a country
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. bank — for money
  11. capital — money
  12. board — to get on
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. land — to come down
  16. bank — of a river
  17. wound — an injury
  18. land — ground
  19. shower — rain
  20. capital — a city
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. dip — to sink

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