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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: last · shower · fork · chest · club · wind

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. chest — of your body
  3. last — final
  4. fork — in a road
  5. chest — of your body
  6. last — finally
  7. shower — rain
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. shower — to wash
  12. wind — moving air
  13. last — to go on
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. chest — a box
  16. wind — moving air
  17. club — for golf
  18. club — for dancing

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