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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: leaves · plane · row · clip · degree · shower · club · fork

  1. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. club — a group
  3. fork — in a road
  4. shower — rain
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. plane — a tool
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. club — for golf
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. degree — temperature
  14. clip — to cut
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. clip — for paper
  17. row — a line
  18. shower — to wash
  19. degree — an amount
  20. club — for dancing
  21. row — to paddle
  22. clip — a video
  23. degree — from a university
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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