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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: leaves · shower · rush · fork · race · bat · wake · cabinet

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. wake — a trail
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. race — humankind
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. fork — in a road
  11. bat — the animal
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. shower — to wash
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. race — a contest
  23. race — the arms race
  24. shower — rain

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