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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: board · bat · fork · mouse · shower · lash · fall · pound

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. board — a committee
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fork — in a road
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fall — the season
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. pound — a weight
  12. board — to get on
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. shower — to wash
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. bat — the animal
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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