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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: fork · shower · cold · pop · rest · chest · jam · ground

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. cold — not warm
  3. ground — crushed
  4. shower — rain
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. pop — to visit
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pop — soda
  13. shower — to wash
  14. rest — what's left
  15. chest — a box
  16. fork — in a road
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. pop — music
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. ground — the earth
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. rest — a break
  24. rest — what's left

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