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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · wound · current · mine · plane · straw · fork · coach

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. current — of water
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. wound — an injury
  8. current — electric
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. shower — to wash
  14. mine — for digging
  15. plane — a tool
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. wound — an injury
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. shower — rain
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. fork — in a road
  24. current — happening now

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