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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: shower · plane · ground · cabinet · kick · row · wound · fork

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. ground — crushed
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. row — to paddle
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. shower — rain
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. row — a line
  11. fork — in a road
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. plane — a tool
  15. kick — in football
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. ground — a position
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — to wash
  22. ground — the earth
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. wound — an injury

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