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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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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: swing · trunk · wave · suit · shower · cell · net · land

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  16. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. When will it ________________ you to start?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — to come down
  3. net — in sport
  4. net — for catching
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. net — after costs
  7. swing — in golf
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. cell — a phone
  12. shower — to wash
  13. swing — to play on
  14. swing — music
  15. suit — clothes
  16. suit — in cards
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. cell — in biology
  20. suit — to fit
  21. land — a country
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. shower — rain

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