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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. shower — to wash
  8. shower — rain
  9. wind — moving air
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. current — of water
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a document
  17. wind — moving air
  18. fork — in a road
  19. mine — for digging
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. current — electric
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. current — happening now
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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