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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: shower · fork · spring · cell · ground · season · last · lash

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. last — final
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cell — a phone
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. spring — a coil
  8. last — to go on
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. spring — of water
  11. last — finally
  12. spring — the season
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. season — of the year
  15. shower — to wash
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. cell — in biology
  19. ground — crushed
  20. ground — a position
  21. fork — in a road
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. season — in sport
  24. shower — rain

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