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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: key · shower · ground · swing · lash · drill · cell · lean

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. shower — to wash
  3. key — for a lock
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. ground — the earth
  6. lean — thin
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. ground — crushed
  9. swing — in golf
  10. shower — rain
  11. swing — music
  12. key — in music
  13. drill — army training
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. swing — to play on
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cell — a phone
  20. drill — a practice
  21. ground — a position
  22. key — the most important part
  23. drill — the tool
  24. cell — in a prison

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