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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: bowl · capital · shower · mouse · drill · dip · land · field

  1. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. drill — a practice
  3. shower — rain
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. shower — to wash
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. dip — to sink
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. field — a subject
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. land — ground
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. field — for sport
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. land — a country
  18. land — to come down
  19. capital — a city
  20. drill — army training
  21. field — farmland
  22. capital — money
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. drill — the tool

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