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

Word bank: race · fork · club · cap · ground · shower

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. cap — of ice
  3. race — humankind
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. shower — to wash
  6. ground — the earth
  7. fork — in a road
  8. race — a contest
  9. cap — a hat
  10. ground — crushed
  11. race — the arms race
  12. shower — rain
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. club — a group
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. ground — a position
  17. cap — a lid
  18. club — for golf

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