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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 · game · tube · calf · march · date · pound · fork

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. game — a match
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. tube — the underground
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. tube — a container
  13. pound — a weight
  14. march — the month
  15. fork — in a road
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. date — the fruit
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — to wash
  21. march — the month
  22. game — wild animals
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. date — on the calendar

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