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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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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. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. fork — in a road
  6. shower — rain
  7. spell — a short time
  8. club — a group
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bass — the fish
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. club — for golf
  16. bass — low music
  17. shower — to wash
  18. club — for dancing
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. spell — letters
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. spell — magic

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