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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: pound · bowl · root · shower · spring · last · perch · racket

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. perch — the fish
  4. spring — the season
  5. last — to go on
  6. spring — of water
  7. root — of a word
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. shower — to wash
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. last — final
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. spring — a coil
  14. shower — rain
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. root — of a plant
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. last — finally
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. pound — a weight
  24. root — the cause

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