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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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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: swing · season · cold · trunk · ground · racket · shower · fork

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. shower — rain
  4. season — in sport
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. cold — an illness
  8. ground — a position
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. fork — in a road
  12. swing — in golf
  13. season — of the year
  14. ground — the earth
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. ground — crushed
  17. shower — to wash
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. swing — music
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. cold — not warm
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. swing — to play on
  24. fork — a garden tool

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