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

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. shower — to wash
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. chest — of your body
  6. rule — government
  7. branch — a division
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. spring — a coil
  10. chest — a box
  11. rule — a law
  12. key — in music
  13. spring — of water
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. fork — in a road
  16. shower — rain
  17. key — the most important part
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. spring — the season
  20. key — for a lock
  21. chest — of your body
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. fork — to eat with

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