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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: lash · cell · drill · capital · mate · hide · spring · shower

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  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. shower — to wash
  2. capital — money
  3. drill — army training
  4. shower — rain
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. mate — a friend
  7. spring — of water
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. mate — a partner
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. cell — a phone
  17. spring — a coil
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. spring — the season
  20. drill — a practice
  21. cell — in biology
  22. mate — to breed
  23. capital — a city
  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