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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: club · wave · shower · cell · spell · fork · clip · saw

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. clip — for paper
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. fork — in a road
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. club — for golf
  8. shower — rain
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. spell — a short time
  11. saw — the tool
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. clip — a video
  14. spell — letters
  15. saw — the tool
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. cell — in biology
  19. spell — magic
  20. clip — to cut
  21. club — a group
  22. club — for dancing
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. cell — a phone

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