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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: shower · lash · file · ground · squash · fork · wave · land

  1. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — an eyelash
  2. shower — to wash
  3. land — to come down
  4. land — ground
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. land — a country
  7. squash — to crush
  8. shower — rain
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. ground — crushed
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. file — a document
  13. ground — the earth
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. squash — the sport
  16. file — a tool
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. fork — in a road
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. file — a line of people
  24. ground — a position

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