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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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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: tube · shower · bat · wave · racket · fork · cold · season

  1. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. fork — in a road
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. season — in sport
  8. tube — the underground
  9. tube — a container
  10. bat — the animal
  11. cold — not warm
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. shower — rain
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. season — of the year
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. shower — to wash
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. cold — an illness

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