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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 116 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.

Make a worksheet

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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. field — a subject
  4. game — a match
  5. bass — the fish
  6. field — farmland
  7. bass — low music
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. fork — in a road
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. shower — to wash
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. field — for sport
  15. game — wild animals
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. fork — a garden 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