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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
468
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: fork · row · shower · hand · cell · field · bound · date

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. cell — in biology
  3. field — a subject
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. fork — in a road
  6. field — farmland
  7. bound — tied together
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. bound — obliged
  10. row — to paddle
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. cell — a phone
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. hand — help
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. field — for sport
  17. shower — to wash
  18. row — a line
  19. bound — certain
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. date — the fruit
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. hand — in cards

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