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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 116 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: hand · bass · bay · fork · squash · mark · race · shower

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. bass — low music
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. squash — to crush
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. hand — in cards
  7. race — humankind
  8. bass — the fish
  9. hand — help
  10. mark — a grade
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. squash — the sport
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. fork — in a road
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. mark — a trace
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. race — a contest
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. shower — rain
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. race — the arms race

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