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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. club — a group
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. date — the fruit
  6. kid — to tease
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. club — for golf
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. cold — not warm
  16. kid — child
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. shower — rain
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fork — in a road
  22. club — for dancing
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. shower — to wash

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