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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: bass · fork · fine · straw · rule · spring · shower · pitcher

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. fine — high quality
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. rule — a law
  11. fine — all right
  12. spring — the season
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. spring — of water
  17. fork — in a road
  18. shower — to wash
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. rule — government
  21. spring — a coil
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. shower — rain
  24. bass — the fish

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