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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: straw · land · fork · shower · cell · wound · safe · bulb

  1. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. land — to come down
  3. bulb — for light
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. shower — rain
  7. cell — a phone
  8. safe — a strongbox
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cell — in biology
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. land — ground
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. shower — to wash
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. land — a country
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. fork — in a road
  24. fork — to eat with

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