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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: club · kid · shower · ball · cabinet · race · spring · board

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. spring — a coil
  3. ball — a great time
  4. club — a group
  5. ball — a dance
  6. spring — the season
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. club — for dancing
  9. board — to get on
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — to tease
  14. race — humankind
  15. club — for golf
  16. race — the arms race
  17. spring — of water
  18. race — a contest
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. board — a committee
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — to wash
  24. ball — a round shape

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