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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. ground — crushed
  4. shower — rain
  5. rest — what's left
  6. track — a path
  7. ground — the earth
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. rest — what's left
  10. tube — a container
  11. tube — the underground
  12. ground — a position
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. track — a song
  16. rest — a break
  17. court — for sport
  18. bass — low music
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. court — of law
  21. track — to keep track
  22. bass — the fish
  23. court — of a king
  24. fork — in a road

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