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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: wave · straw · lash · shower · prune · last · fork · field

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. last — final
  3. shower — rain
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. field — for sport
  10. shower — to wash
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. fork — in a road
  13. last — to go on
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. prune — to trim
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. last — finally
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — a subject
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. prune — to trim

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