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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: shower · capital · face · spell · mug · fall · club · branch

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. spell — magic
  3. club — for golf
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. mug — a face
  6. fall — to drop
  7. face — to point toward
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. fall — the season
  10. spell — letters
  11. mug — to rob
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. club — a group
  14. fall — to drop
  15. shower — to wash
  16. shower — rain
  17. branch — a division
  18. club — for dancing
  19. mug — a cup
  20. face — to confront
  21. face — part of the head
  22. spell — a short time
  23. capital — a city
  24. capital — a big letter

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