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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 · cold · pass · rash · shower · fork · mouse · arm

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. pass — a permit
  4. tube — a container
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. rash — hasty
  9. shower — to wash
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. shower — rain
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — not warm
  15. rash — a series
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. fork — in a road
  22. cold — an illness
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. tube — in a tire

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