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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 · clip · roll · bore · swing · row · rush · temple

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. swing — music
  3. roll — a cake
  4. bore — to drill
  5. clip — a video
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. clip — to cut
  9. rush — hurry
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. shower — to wash
  13. clip — for paper
  14. swing — in golf
  15. bore — to tire
  16. row — to paddle
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. shower — rain
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. roll — a list
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. swing — to play on

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