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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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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 · bowl · race · press · roll · spell · tear · wind

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. press — to push
  3. roll — a list
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. race — a contest
  6. press — newspapers
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. press — a publisher
  9. race — the arms race
  10. roll — a cake
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. spell — a short time
  13. tear — from crying
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. race — humankind
  17. spell — magic
  18. shower — to wash
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. spell — letters
  22. tear — to rip
  23. tear — from crying
  24. shower — rain

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