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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: fork · kick · stand · bass · kid · present · shower · hand

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. stand — to bear
  6. kid — child
  7. kick — in football
  8. bass — low music
  9. hand — help
  10. bass — the fish
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. present — a gift
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. shower — rain
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. present — the time now
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. hand — in cards
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. fork — in a road
  23. shower — to wash
  24. bass — the instrument

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