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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  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. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. fine — high quality
  3. spring — of water
  4. net — after costs
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. fine — all right
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spring — the season
  9. shower — rain
  10. mate — to breed
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. net — in sport
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. mate — a friend
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. mate — a partner
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. fork — in a road
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. net — for catching

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