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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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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: leaves · shower · march · content · club · fork · chest · prune

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. shower — to wash
  3. march — the month
  4. content — the amount
  5. chest — of your body
  6. shower — rain
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. club — for golf
  10. chest — of your body
  11. fork — in a road
  12. club — for dancing
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. prune — to trim
  16. club — a group
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. prune — to trim
  20. chest — a box
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. march — music
  24. content — happy

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