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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: ground · hand · wave · fan · shower · branch · calf · racket

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. ground — a position
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. shower — rain
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. ground — the earth
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. shower — to wash
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. hand — in cards
  20. hand — help
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. branch — a division
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. branch — of a tree

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