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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: shower · hand · fork · chip · drill · club · squash · prune

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. club — for dancing
  3. hand — help
  4. shower — rain
  5. prune — to trim
  6. fork — in a road
  7. squash — to crush
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. squash — the sport
  10. chip — for betting
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. shower — to wash
  13. prune — to trim
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. club — a group
  16. chip — to eat
  17. club — for golf
  18. drill — army training
  19. drill — a practice
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. hand — in cards
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. fork — a garden tool

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