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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 120 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: fork · shower · charge · hide · row · spring · net · clip

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. net — for catching
  4. clip — to cut
  5. shower — to wash
  6. spring — the season
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. clip — a video
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. row — to paddle
  11. net — after costs
  12. row — a line
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. charge — in control
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. shower — rain
  18. clip — for paper
  19. spring — of water
  20. charge — a price
  21. charge — electricity
  22. spring — a coil
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. fork — in a road

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