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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: shower · foot · race · prune · rush · fork · spring · tube

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. fork — in a road
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. foot — a measure
  5. tube — the underground
  6. prune — to trim
  7. rush — hurry
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. race — a contest
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. spring — a coil
  14. spring — of water
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. prune — to trim
  17. spring — the season
  18. shower — rain
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. race — the arms race
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. race — humankind
  23. shower — to wash
  24. fork — a garden tool

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