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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: rash · pound · spell · ground · band · hand · face · shower

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. ground — crushed
  3. spell — magic
  4. hand — in cards
  5. pound — a weight
  6. band — a music group
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. shower — to wash
  10. band — a ring
  11. rash — a series
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. hand — help
  14. rash — hasty
  15. face — to confront
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. spell — a short time
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. spell — letters
  21. face — to point toward
  22. ground — a position
  23. face — part of the head
  24. hand — part of the body

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