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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 120 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: pound · shower · rule · cap · sharp · plane · hand · fork

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. rule — government
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. rule — a law
  5. hand — in cards
  6. cap — a hat
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. fork — in a road
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. shower — to wash
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. sharp — clever
  13. pound — a weight
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. hand — help
  17. plane — a tool
  18. cap — of ice
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. shower — rain
  23. cap — a lid
  24. sharp — with an edge

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