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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: shower · fine · spell · kick · face · cabinet · mine · snap

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. fine — high quality
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. kick — in football
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. spell — letters
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. shower — rain
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. face — to confront
  14. snap — to click
  15. fine — all right
  16. mine — for digging
  17. spell — a short time
  18. spell — magic
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. face — part of the head
  22. face — to point toward
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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