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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 124 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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. shower — rain
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. bass — the fish
  8. chest — of your body
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. fork — in a road
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. bass — low music
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — a box
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — to wash
  22. rash — a series
  23. rash — hasty
  24. mine — for digging

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