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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.

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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. shower — rain
  3. band — a music group
  4. court — of law
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. can — a tin
  9. band — a ring
  10. court — for sport
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. can — to be able to
  13. can — a tin
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. spring — a coil
  16. spring — of water
  17. court — of a king
  18. shower — to wash
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. spring — the season
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. fork — in a road
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. patient — a sick person

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