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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: ball · stem · scale · swing · shower · band · lie · spring

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. shower — rain
  4. scale — in music
  5. shower — to wash
  6. ball — a great time
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. swing — in golf
  11. ball — a dance
  12. spring — the season
  13. swing — music
  14. spring — of water
  15. lie — to recline
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. scale — size or range
  18. band — a ring
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. spring — a coil
  21. stem — to come from
  22. band — a music group
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. stem — of a plant

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