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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: lash · bark · fork · sharp · leaves · straw · cold · shower

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. sharp — clever
  8. bark — to shout
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. fork — in a road
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. cold — an illness
  15. shower — rain
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. cold — not warm
  20. shower — to wash
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. leaves — lets stay

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