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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. land — to come down
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. squash — the sport
  6. spring — a coil
  7. swing — in golf
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. fork — in a road
  11. swing — music
  12. squash — to crush
  13. land — ground
  14. spring — the season
  15. shower — to wash
  16. fall — the season
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. fall — to drop
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. land — a country
  21. fall — to drop
  22. spring — of water
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. swing — to play on

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