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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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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: season · shower · ruler · drill · root · chest · swing · deal

  1. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. swing — to play on
  3. season — of the year
  4. chest — of your body
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. drill — army training
  7. shower — rain
  8. drill — a practice
  9. root — the cause
  10. root — of a word
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. swing — in golf
  13. drill — the tool
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. root — of a plant
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. chest — a box
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. season — in sport
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. shower — to wash
  23. swing — music
  24. chest — of your body

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