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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 116 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: shower · fork · season · vault · rash · stem · fall · straw

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. shower — to wash
  3. fall — to drop
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. stem — to come from
  6. shower — rain
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. rash — a series
  9. fall — to drop
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. season — in sport
  15. vault — a safe
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. fork — in a road
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. rash — hasty
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. fall — the season

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