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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: shower · stick · scale · cap · court · fall · fork · bulb

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. bulb — for light
  3. court — for sport
  4. cap — a lid
  5. fall — to drop
  6. shower — rain
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. court — of law
  9. cap — of ice
  10. court — of a king
  11. scale — in music
  12. fall — the season
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. shower — to wash
  15. scale — size or range
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. bulb — for light
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. cap — a hat
  22. fork — in a road
  23. fall — to drop
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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