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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: bear · cap · board · scale · shower · spring · hand · spell

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. scale — in music
  3. spring — of water
  4. board — to get on
  5. cap — a lid
  6. cap — of ice
  7. spell — a short time
  8. board — a committee
  9. hand — help
  10. spring — the season
  11. scale — size or range
  12. spell — letters
  13. shower — rain
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. bear — the animal
  19. spell — magic
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. cap — a hat
  22. bear — the animal
  23. spring — a coil
  24. hand — in cards

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