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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: wind · sharp · shower · spell · fork · bass · kick · wound

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. wind — moving air
  3. spell — a short time
  4. sharp — clever
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. bass — low music
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. spell — magic
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. shower — to wash
  12. spell — letters
  13. wound — an injury
  14. fork — in a road
  15. kick — in football
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. wind — moving air
  19. shower — rain
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. bass — the fish
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. wound — an injury
  24. fork — to eat with

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