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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 120 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: nail · squash · wound · shower · spring · fine · spell · club

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. club — for dancing
  3. squash — to crush
  4. spring — the season
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. spring — of water
  7. wound — an injury
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. club — for golf
  10. club — a group
  11. shower — rain
  12. spell — magic
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wound — an injury
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. fine — high quality
  19. spell — a short time
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. spell — letters
  23. fine — all right
  24. squash — the sport

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