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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 · craft · fan · pop · cold · chair · squash · roll

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. pop — to visit
  3. pop — music
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. chair — a leader
  6. shower — to wash
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. cold — an illness
  9. craft — boats
  10. pop — soda
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. shower — rain
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. squash — the sport
  16. squash — to crush
  17. craft — a skill
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. cold — not warm
  21. roll — a cake
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. roll — a list

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