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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 120 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: fork · bat · net · pass · shower · spell · kid · row

  1. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. net — after costs
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. kid — child
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. shower — to wash
  7. shower — rain
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. spell — letters
  12. fork — in a road
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. row — to paddle
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. spell — magic
  17. bat — the animal
  18. net — in sport
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. net — for catching
  21. row — a line
  22. kid — to tease
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. spell — a short time

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