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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. shower — to wash
  4. charge — electricity
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. charge — a price
  7. spring — of water
  8. swing — in golf
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. wound — an injury
  11. shower — rain
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. charge — in control
  15. chest — a box
  16. dip — to sink
  17. spring — the season
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. swing — to play on
  22. swing — music
  23. spring — a coil
  24. dip — a sauce

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