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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 · face · cue · land · bowl · cap · wake · shower

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. spell — a short time
  3. cue — a hint
  4. cap — a lid
  5. land — to come down
  6. face — to confront
  7. land — ground
  8. spell — letters
  9. face — part of the head
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. cue — a signal
  12. cap — a hat
  13. shower — rain
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. spell — magic
  16. land — a country
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. shower — to wash
  19. wake — a trail
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. cue — for pool
  23. face — to point toward
  24. cap — of ice

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