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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: spring · shower · roll · season · file · hand · drill · stand

  1. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. stand — to bear
  4. roll — a cake
  5. drill — a practice
  6. file — a line of people
  7. hand — help
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. roll — a list
  11. spring — the season
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. shower — rain
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. season — in sport
  16. spring — a coil
  17. drill — the tool
  18. shower — to wash
  19. hand — in cards
  20. file — a tool
  21. season — of the year
  22. drill — army training
  23. spring — of water
  24. hand — part of the body

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