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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 116 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: capital · shower · drill · bank · face · squash · press · spell

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. drill — the tool
  3. spell — letters
  4. capital — money
  5. spell — a short time
  6. face — part of the head
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. bank — for money
  9. drill — army training
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. drill — a practice
  12. face — to confront
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. spell — magic
  15. capital — a city
  16. face — to point toward
  17. bank — of a river
  18. press — a publisher
  19. squash — to crush
  20. squash — the sport
  21. press — to push
  22. shower — rain
  23. bank — for money
  24. press — newspapers

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