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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 120 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: cap · spring · temple · court · fork · sharp · wave · shower

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. shower — rain
  3. spring — of water
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. sharp — clever
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. cap — of ice
  8. cap — a hat
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. court — of a king
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. court — of law
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. cap — a lid
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. fork — in a road
  21. spring — a coil
  22. court — for sport
  23. spring — the season
  24. shower — to wash

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