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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. file — a line of people
  4. file — a tool
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. ground — crushed
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. shower — to wash
  12. kick — in football
  13. fork — in a road
  14. shower — rain
  15. ground — the earth
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. tube — a container
  19. ground — a position
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. file — a document
  22. tube — the underground
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. kick — with a leg

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