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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: shower · file · row · kid · fork · sharp

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. 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. row — a line
  2. file — a document
  3. shower — rain
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. file — a line of people
  7. row — to paddle
  8. sharp — clever
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. kid — child
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. shower — to wash
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. kid — to tease
  16. file — a tool
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. 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